In Cleveland today there are two stories that have captured the attention of the locals. Ohio has voted to bring gambling to their state and a convicted sex offender is in custody charged with 5 murders and may soon be charged with more authorities say after 10 bodies and a skull were found inside and behind his home.

Since the early morning hours, families of missing women joined local residents to stand outside  the home Anthony Sowell lived in and try to fathom what may have gone on inside. It is a home Sowell, who had served 15 years in prison for rape and returned to in 2005, will likely never return to again if the prosecutor here gets what he wants … A conviction that he says could bring the death penalty.

Today during his first court appearance, Sowell a former marine, acknowledged to the judge he understood the charges against him . So far, at least five counts of aggravated murder, kidnapping, felony assault and rape the last three based on a claim a woman made that she’d been attacked at the house several weeks ago but escaped.

Sowell was registered as a sex offender at the address and though cops visited him since his 2005 release, they never went inside. This has baffled neighbors who say they complained about a smell coming from the home for years. Authorities say the decomposing bodies may have been there that long too. Maybe days, maybe weeks, maybe says the police chief for years. City councilman Zach Reed talked to me about how this could happen, what folks here are saying about it and what needs to be done:

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The Carmichael family, one of the families who came here looking for answers this morning … got the one they feared the most. Their loved one was one of the women whose bodies were removed from Sowell’s home. As much as the Carmichaels wanted to know, it had to be truly devastating to learn that the mother two daughters loved so much and the daughter a mom, the elder Mrs. Carmichael who gave her DNA cheek swab to gain that answer, had died in such a violent way. The girls told me for the last week they just had a feeling they would find out.

The coroner says they want families of other missing women to come forward. Without getting maternal DNA samples he says making a match can be tough.

The prosecutor calls Anthony Sowell a dangerous threat to the public. For now he will remain behind bars. His DNA likely unable to be able to be matched the coroner says because of the condition on the bodies. A grand jury will have to decide what Anthony Sowell is facing but it could include the death penalty.

Cops say this is the second worst criminal investigation in the state. The last years involved 14 bodies found at a single location I’m told. If more bodies are found, and cops say they will dismantle the home and check abandoned homes in the neighborhood in case there are more victims yet to be discovered. If the body count rises by just 4, it will be the deadliest crime scene investigators say they’ve ever seen.