Ohio Woman Tipped Cops to Sowell Last Year

A Cleveland woman says she was assaulted by accused murderer Anthony Sowell last December in a struggle that left her blood at his house—but after she narrowly escaped and went to the police, authorities believed him instead of her. In the ensuing months, five more women went missing. Wade says a police detective was skeptical of her allegations because she herself had a pending assault charge.

At the time, Sowell claimed that Gladys Wade was trying to rob him, and “it was my word against his,” she tells the Plain Dealer. “I was devastated. It was like a slap to my face.” Cleveland police say they brought the case to a prosecutor who declined to move forward because of a lack of evidence. The prosecutor says police indicated Wade was not credible. “All those women that might be alive if these people had only believed me,” she laments. (More Anthony Sowell stories.)