October 19, 2023 • 51 mins
In 2007, women started disappearing from the Mount Pleasant neighborhood of East Cleveland, Ohio. In the fall of 2009, the decomposing bodies and partial remains of 11 women were recovered from a home located at 12205 Imperial Avenue in Mount Pleasant.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Tell me a true crime story, music.
There was a mountain of dirtthat was found in the basement
(00:21):
behind the stairwell, which wasunusual, this dirt.
I went down and I looked at itand the dirt was on top of the
concrete floor.
You think maybe it's anotherbody there or whatever.
Two bodies the first day.
A third body in the back of thestairwell, a red bucket about
maybe a foot high, was a skull.
(00:43):
Everywhere you stepped youstepped on rat feces, the flies
were hanging from the ceilingand the stench.
You had decomposed substancesthat came from the body.
You found the other body in theback, two or three feet away
from another body, and then tofind an additional body in the
(01:07):
crawl space, the same type ofdirt that was in the basement.
Now you have one, two, three,four bodies upstairs, one and a
skull in the basement.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Hey there, welcome to episode 31 of Tell Me a True
Crime Story.
I'm your host, holly.
I want to welcome all of my newlisteners and, of course, a
warm welcome to those of you whohave been here with me since
the get go.
A great big thank you to eachand every one of you for being
here.
You all being here, showing upfor each episode, supporting me
(01:45):
in what I do, has made thispodcast grow lots lately.
You guys have been leavingthose kind reviews too.
You are helping to make thepodcast more relevant and much
more visible to more true crimepodcast fans.
Big, big hugs to all of you.
I know some people getfrustrated when I talk before I
(02:08):
get to the story, but I must saya few things in the beginning,
because we're like family and Ihave stuff to say to y'all.
I want you guys to get to knowme a bit and I really wish I
could be nosy and get to knowyou guys a bit too, since I
can't really ask you guysquestions.
(02:28):
I mean really I can.
In the future we can do meetand greets and stuff like other
podcasts do when I get morelisteners and somebody will
actually show up to them.
I would love to do that,because I would love to see you
guys, hug you guys and get toknow you guys and see your face
(02:48):
and thank you in person.
But until then, if you justwant to hear the story and get
to the story and you don't wantto hear me talk or do any of
that, just use the handy dandyfast forward button and just
click it a few times.
Don't leave me a stinky reviewor just quit me forever just
because I have a few things tosay to my podcast, peoples and
(03:10):
family.
Just click ahead a little bit.
So I hope that all of you outthere are doing okay.
Well, I hope you're doingbetter than okay.
I hope you're doing good orgreat.
I know that times right now aretough for a lot of people.
Money wise, everybody's workingso much and so hard to take
care of everything and everybody, and those of you who are
(03:34):
already like comfortable anddon't have to worry too much
about finances I know you guyshave to work very hard to and
put lots of time into whateverit is that you do that's made
you successful.
So everybody out there is juststressed and working hard and
putting in a lot of hours, andtimes are just tough right now.
I know that and I know thatlife in general can be very
(03:57):
tough, and I'm just thankfulthat you guys let me be like a
small sliver of your busy, busylife.
This past week was a really busyone for me.
All that I wanted to do andneeded to do all the time it's
like I can never seem to get itall done.
Even this episode is coming atyou like several hours late and
(04:21):
I'm sorry for that.
I just had a couple ofunexpected things happen this
week that put me behind.
But yeah, so in the not sodistant past I wasn't releasing
episodes consistently because Iwas just like really overwhelmed
.
I mean, I still am now, butthen I was like, oh well, I
don't have that many listenersand nobody's really going to
(04:42):
care.
But now you know, I've grown somuch that it really lit a fire
under my ass.
It's held me accountable, soit's been a good thing.
So even when I'm dead tired, Imake sure that I'm working on
the next episode so that I canget it out on time, because I do
not want to let any of you guysdown.
(05:02):
I'm asking for reviews and youguys are giving them to me and
so many of those reviews aresaying keep the episodes coming.
So you guys have inspired me,so so, very much.
You have made all of the longhours of research, writing, hard
work in the long, long nightsthat stretch into the like
morning when I got to get up andtake my son to school and I
(05:23):
only get like two hours of sleep.
You've made all of that worthit.
So please know that when I saythank you for listening and
being here, I mean it from thevery bottom of my heart, because
what is all this for if I havenobody on my side?
I have nobody on the other endlistening to me.
So, yeah, I've gotten more fivestar reviews this week and you
(05:46):
know I'm going to read themreally quick because I have to
personally thank those of youwho took the time to do that, to
do that for me.
Fienna said love this, love theportrayals of all the different
stories.
Thank you so much, fienna.
Big hugs to you and please keeplistening.
And to Shay.
(06:07):
1981 said the sweetest thingever get this.
This was a surprise to me.
I love your voice.
I just found this podcast and Ilove it.
And about to binge when I say Ijust found it.
I'm talking about yesterday.
Your voice is so beautiful.
And then she put four red heartemojis.
(06:28):
Oh my to Shay.
Never have I ever thought thatmy voice was good, let alone
beautiful.
But I will take it and acceptthat lovely compliment from you
to Shay 1981.
Thank you so much.
Those were very sweet words andthank you for taking the time
(06:49):
out to review the podcast for me.
Big, big hugs and squeezes toyou.
And then this very kind fivestar review from Dino.
He says great stories.
I listen as I drive all day.
Dino from Pennsylvania.
Dino, thank you so much forthat review.
That is so sweet of you.
I am so thankful that you takeme along with you as you drive
(07:12):
around.
Please be safe out there andwatch out for the crazies on the
road.
Big, big hugs and squeezes toall of you guys.
I hope that you and your familyare happy, healthy and together
forever.
And if you don't know why that'sbecome my little saying, I
explain it in the beginning ofthe episode that's called
(07:33):
condemned row stories womencondemned to die.
That episode was from Februaryand that's where I talk about
how I got that little saying ifyou want to go back and listen
to it.
But if you do go back andlisten to it, you can't make fun
of me if I sound awful.
I was still pretty new at thisand still very, very nervous on
the mic.
So Now let me tell you a truecrime story.
(07:56):
Today, I'm going to tell youthe story of Anthony Soul, whose
nickname was the ClevelandStrangler.
I did cover this story, thisserial killer, in the past, but
I can tell by looking at mystats that many of my listeners,
especially my new listenershave not listened to those two
episodes where I cover that case, and even if you did listen to
(08:20):
those to my old ones.
This one has been updated andre-recorded, so it's worth
listening to again and, don'tworry, I'll have a brand new
case for you really soon.
There is a 2016 documentarycalled Unseen about this case
and you can watch it for free ifyou have an Amazon Prime
membership.
And in addition to thatdocumentary, oxygen has two
(08:44):
episodes on this particular case.
One is on there living with aserial killer series and the
other one is on Snapped.
So those are all prettyinteresting and they cover a lot
of interesting facts about thiscase.
His name is Anthony Soul,serial killer, and he was dubbed
(09:07):
the Cleveland Strangler.
So Halloween is quicklyapproaching and, in sticking
with that theme, the serialkiller that we're going to cover
was arrested on Halloween in2009.
Excuse me, this is part one andthere will be a part two
released ASAP.
I won't wait until next week torelease part two.
(09:29):
I will put it out there as soonas I get it done, so keep an
eye out for that.
So let's get a feel for whereour story takes place.
The crux of our story todaybegins in the year 2007.
We're traveling to ImperialAvenue in Cleveland, ohio's
District 4.
(09:49):
District 4 is 11.3 square miles.
In 2000, the population ofDistrict 4 was about 87,000.
In 2000, the median householdincome was about $25,000, but in
the poorest neighborhood ofDistrict 4, kingsman, the median
household income was only$12,500.
(10:11):
According to the City ofCleveland's Planning Commission
website, district 4 was at onetime or another home to many
different European immigrantgroups, but is now 97% African
American.
Imperial Avenue is on theborder of two East Cleveland
neighborhoods.
Mount Pleasant is to the southof Imperial Avenue and Buckeye
(10:34):
Shaker is to its north.
Mount Pleasant was once alively working class
neighborhood, but the previousfew decades prior to 2007 had
not been kind to Mount Pleasant.
The area experienced the lossof many jobs and the crack
cocaine epidemic hit this areareally hard.
East Cleveland as a whole wasone of the poorest cities in
(10:59):
America at the time.
There were thousands ofabandoned homes in Cleveland and
East Cleveland.
Many of them were just too fargone to be rehabbed and were in
need of demolition.
Anthony Edwards-Soul was born inCleveland, ohio, in 1959.
His parents divorced sometimein the 60s and he was raised by
(11:20):
his mother, claudia.
Also living in the home werehis maternal grandmother, irene,
and his siblings, tressa andJunior.
Anthony Soul had another sisternamed Patricia Davis Hatcher,
who died in 1969.
She had seven children that hermom, claudia, took in when she
passed away.
So there were 12 people livingin their home Anthony Soul, his
(11:43):
brother, his sister, his mom,his grandma and seven of his
nieces and nephews.
According to testimony from someof his sister's kids that had
moved in with them when theirmom died, which were Anthony
Soul's nieces and nephews, theywere subjected to regular severe
abuse while living there.
For instance, claudia wouldstrip them naked.
(12:05):
Now Claudia is Anthony Soul'smom, so she would be the grandma
to those kids.
Her daughter died.
She took in all seven of herdaughter's kids so these are her
grandchildren.
Claudia would strip them naked,tie them to a banister and beat
(12:25):
them with an extension corduntil she was tired.
Claudia's mom, irene, wouldbeat them with a switch or a
cane.
They testified that a beatingcould take place at any time,
including even at 2 or 3 am, forsomething as small as leaving a
dirty dish in the sink.
One of the boys testified thathe was subjected to beatings
(12:46):
like that almost daily and attimes severe enough to draw
blood.
According to Anthony Soul'ssister's kids, claudia never
subjected her own children,vanessa, junior or Anthony, to
these types of beatings.
However, her children didwitness the beatings.
One of the kids testified thatat times Anthony Soul would just
(13:08):
sit there and laugh as theother kids were beaten by his
mother.
One of the girls testified thatwhen she was 10 years old,
anthony Soul, who was about 11years old at the time, raped her
almost every day.
Anthony Soul attended ProspectElementary School and Kirk
Junior High School in EastCleveland.
His teachers testified that hewas an average student with a
(13:31):
very good attendance record.
They had not observed anyindication that he had been
physically abused.
At age 19, anthony Soulenlisted in the United States
Marine Corps For eight years,from 1978 to 1985, anthony Soul
served active duty in SouthCarolina, north Carolina,
california, and in Okinawa,japan.
(13:53):
He was an above average Marine.
Upon graduation from boot camp,anthony Soul was promoted to
private first class, the onlyMarine from his 55-member
platoon to receive thisdistinction.
He was also awarded two goodconduct medals reflecting three
years of service without anydisciplinary action, and
(14:14):
received other awards for goodperformance.
He was promoted to LanceCorporal, corporal and Sergeant.
Anthony Soul was chosen toattend an advanced electrician
school and only 30% of Marinesare chosen for an advanced
school.
Anthony Soul was involved intwo minor disciplinary matters
during his Marine career.
(14:35):
He received quote-unquotenon-judicial punishment in both,
rather than a court martial.
His conduct marks exceeded therequirement for an honorable
discharge, which he received in1985.
Twyla Austin had begun datingAnthony Soul when she was in
high school.
She became pregnant with hischild and their daughter was
(14:56):
born in 1978, eight and a halfmonths after he had joined the
Marines.
Twyla testified at AnthonySoul's trial that during visits
to Ohio he had visited theirdaughter.
He had come pick her up andtake her over to his mother's
house.
Twyla said she had received asupport check from the Marines
every month for their daughter.
Anthony Soul met and married afellow Marine named Kim Yvette
(15:21):
Lawson while serving in themilitary.
Reportedly, they married in1981, and the marriage fell
apart by 1985.
Kim Yvette Lawson died in 1998.
In 1989, a woman named MelvetteSockwell's car broke down and
she walked to a motel nearEuclid Avenue and Lee Boulevard
in East Cleveland.
(15:41):
She met Anthony Soul there andasked him if she could use his
phone.
He took Melvette to his homeless than a half a mile away
from the motel, located at 1878Page Avenue.
He took her upstairs to a roomand locked the door.
He had a huge butcher knife andraped her at knife point.
He choked her and raped herover and over again.
(16:03):
After raping her, he cleanedher up with a rag, then stuffed
that same rag in her mouth.
He bound her hands with anecktie and her feet with a belt
.
He told her to say her prayersbecause he was going to feed her
then kill her.
Then Anthony Sol, who had beendrinking, laid down and went to
sleep.
Melvette rolled off the bed andwent to the window.
(16:24):
She was still bound and gagged,so she pushed the window up
with her head.
She escaped onto the roof ofthe house.
She saw two older women belowout by the street and made
noises behind her gag to gettheir attention Mmm, mmm, mmm.
A woman looked up and Melvetteturned to let her see that her
hands were tied up.
The woman said oh my God, andthe police were called.
(16:48):
When the police arrived toarrest Anthony Sol, he was still
sleeping.
On June 24, 1990, another womantold police that Anthony Sol
raped and choked her in her homelocated on East 71st Street in
Cleveland.
He was arrested but chargeswere not filed against him
because, reportedly, the womanwas not willing to testify.
(17:11):
In 1990, anthony Sol pleadedguilty to a lesser charge of
attempted rape for the attack onMelvette Sockwell and served
fifteen years in prison.
He was released from prison in2005 at the age of forty-five
years old.
Upon his release, he was deemeda sexually oriented offender
and unlikely to reoffend.
(17:32):
A sexually oriented offenderwas the least restrictive status
category.
He was required to report hisaddress to the Sheriff's Office
once a year for ten years.
Because of a change in OhioState law in 2008, anthony Sol
was reclassified from a sexuallyoriented offender to a Tier 3
(17:52):
sex offender.
He was required to go to thecounty's sex offender's
registration office and reporthis address once every ninety
days for the rest of his life.
According to the Ohio AttorneyGeneral's Office, quote a Tier 3
sex offender is a person whohas been convicted of or pleaded
guilty to a sexually orientedoffence that is punishable by
(18:16):
imprisonment for more than oneyear.
A Tier 3 offender is subject tostrict address verification.
The community and victim orvictims receive notification
whenever such an offenderrelocates to a new address.
End quote.
So after he left prison, anthonySol moved into the attic area
(18:37):
of his late father and stepmom'shouse at 1205 Imperial Avenue
in the Mount Pleasantneighborhood of East Cleveland.
Anthony Sol's stepmom, sagarnaSol, was not in good health.
She spent a lot of time inhospitals, which left Anthony
Sol, the lone occupant in thehome nearly all of the time.
(18:58):
There were lots of houses onImperial Avenue near the Sol
residence at the time that havesince been torn down.
Next door to the Sol home is asmall sausage factory named
Ray's Sausage.
It has been there since 1952.
House Imperial Avenue is asmall pizza shop called Best
(19:18):
Chicken and Pizza.
Across 123rd Street from Ray'sSausage was Amira Imperial
Beverage, a corner conveniencestore.
In 2007, just two years afterAnthony Sol was released from
prison and moved into the houseon Imperial Avenue, women in the
neighborhoods of Mount Pleasantand Buckeye Shaker in East
(19:39):
Cleveland started disappearing.
Author said Anthony Sol prayedon his victims' weaknesses and
vulnerabilities.
They were drug-addicted andtransient.
Some of them were homeless.
He used drugs and alcohol tolure them to his home.
In fact, reportedly, when wordgot out that he gave out free
drugs to ladies, he had so manywomen knocking on his door at
(20:01):
all hours of the day and nightthat he ended up disconnecting
his doorbell.
On this time, 2007, anthony Solwas about five, eleven or six
feet tall and weighed 155 to 160pounds.
He had a job at Custom Rubber,which was a rubber factory that
made buckets.
In February of 2007, hesuffered a heart attack.
(20:23):
He was hospitalized andreceived a pacemaker.
He later returned to light dutyat work, then was eventually
released to regular duty.
However, by July of that year,he was physically unable to
perform his duties as aninjection mold machine operator
and was laid off.
He began receiving unemployment.
(20:46):
Anthony Sol liked to sit on hisfront steps and drink 40-ounce
King Cobra malt liquor that cost$1.50 per bottle.
Sometimes a woman would bedrinking there with him.
He hung out around the cornerconvenience store and bummed
change from people in theneighborhood.
He would sometimes be seenpushing a shopping cart up and
(21:07):
down the street collecting cansand scrap metal to sell for an
extra buck.
He had a profile on an onlinedating service that said he was
a master looking for asubmissive to train.
He had barbecues in hisdriveway and invited people from
the neighborhood.
He even had a girlfriend thatlived with him for a couple of
years.
Her name was Lori Frazier.
(21:29):
She is a recovering addict andniece of the four-term former
mayor, frank Jackson ofCleveland.
Lori Frazier and Anthony Sol metin 2005 after his 15-year
prison stint was over.
She was looking for beerwalking down East 116th Street
when she bumped into him.
They'd spent that eveningtogether drinking at a local bar
(21:52):
.
After that he invited her backto his house.
She moved in with him shortlyafter.
She said he was quiet but hetreated her well.
He did the cooking and cleaningand supported her, even though
she had a serious crackaddiction.
Then Anthony Sol began smokingcrack too.
She said this changed hisdemeanor and he became real
(22:12):
nasty, angry, mean andaggressive.
He'd fly into a rage andthreatened to throw her out of a
window.
He would periodically put herout of the house.
She would come home to findthat he was entertaining
strangers in the house and hebrought other women over when
she wasn't there.
Lori's mom died in 2007 and shedecided to get clean.
(22:33):
She told him they could not betogether if he continued to use,
but he didn't stop and Lori andAnthony Sol broke up sometime
in 2007 and she moved out of hishouse.
But they still kept in touchand she still visited his house
from time to time, she said.
After their break up and shemoved out, his attitude and
demeanor continued to worsen.
(22:54):
She said that when she visitedhis home, she saw that a
sitting-room on the third floorwas locked and off limits, but
it had never been before.
They used to use it as theirbedroom.
When Lori was asked if she'dnoticed a bad odor when she was
at Anthony Sol's home, she saidshe did and she'd asked him
about it.
He said that the smell was fromhis stepmother downstairs.
(23:16):
When his stepmom left, heblamed the smell on Ray's
sausage next door.
Normally, lori and Anthony Solstop seeing each other
altogether, but theirrelationship had been very
important to Anthony Sol,according to court documents.
These are quotes from AnthonySol about Lori and their time
together.
Quote.
(23:37):
Let me tell you a story abouther Crackhead.
But I loved her and I helpedher.
I used to go out on the streetand look for her because I would
be worried She'd leave and begone for days and weeks.
I said At least call and let meknow you're all right.
I said why don't you let me getyou some help?
I said I will be there for you,I will come visit you, I will
(23:58):
help you.
I think I called suicideprevention.
I spent the whole weekend justcrying.
End quote.
With the benefit of hindsight,lori said that looking back, she
had seen suspicious injuries onAnthony Sol, most likely
evidence of his encounters withthe women he victimized and
murdered.
Sometimes she saw a deep gashon his head and blood on the
(24:20):
floor and walls in his home.
He said that an intruder hadentered his home and they'd had
a fight.
Another time he had flesh tornfrom his neck.
He told Lori that a homelessperson jumped on him near an
abandoned building and yet inanother incident he'd gotten his
throat sliced so badly thewound required stitches.
He told Lori that he'd gottenrobbed while walking through the
(24:43):
park at night Another time,lori came home and Anthony Sol
had blood gushing from his head.
He said, quote, you don't haveto worry about them no more
because I killed their ass, endquote.
He didn't explain further andLori didn't press the issue.
She didn't really believe himanyway.
She didn't think he was capableof killing anyone.
(25:03):
Next we're going to talk aboutAnthony Sol's murder victims,
the plain dealer.
A newspaper in Clevelandprofiled all of the women in
2011 and that's where I got thebulk of the information from
about them.
In 2007, crystal Dozier was 35years old and a former
telemarketer.
She cleaned homes and didshopping for her elderly
(25:25):
neighbors.
She was a mother of sevenchildren and was addicted to
crack cocaine.
She was born in 1971 and wasthe second oldest of four
children.
When she was a kid, she likedto dress up in frilly outfits
and she'd been a little motherhand to her younger siblings.
She spent hours in the kitchenwith her mom learning how to
cook.
(25:46):
She got pregnant at 13 and thebaby's father was 17 years old.
Then she got pregnant again at14.
This time, the father was 20years old.
They married in 1987 and wenton to have five more children
together.
She became addicted to crackaround.
This time she was 16 years old,cuyahoga County.
(26:08):
Social service records indicatethat she and her husband were
unfit parents.
One document noted that heroldest son had marks on his body
from beatings.
Her husband was arrested manytimes on various charges, such
as grand theft, breaking andentering and drug charges.
Crystal's two oldest childrenwent to live with her mom, and
(26:28):
her other five kids ended up infoster care.
Crystal had a string of arreststoo, for charges such as
possession, theft and drugtrafficking.
When her mom was arrested on adrug charge, crystal's two
oldest kids were ultimately putinto separate foster homes.
Her four youngest daughtersended up getting adopted by the
(26:49):
same family.
One of her sons died at age 11from complications due to asthma
.
She and her husband broke up in1994 and she later remarried.
She had a long period ofsobriety with this man, but then
Crystal fell off the wagon andended up doing almost a year in
prison in 2004 for drugtrafficking.
(27:09):
Her husband died while she waslocked up.
She cleaned herself up for abit when she got out, but ended
up back on drugs.
She was last seen on May 17,2007.
Her oldest child, anthonyDozier, filed a missing persons
report on June 11, 2007.
He'd just returned from a tourin the Marines.
(27:31):
For the next almost year and ahalf he'd drive around the
streets of East Clevelandsearching for his mom.
Her body was discovered nearlya year and a half later with a
ligature around her neck, buriedin Anthony Sol's backyard on
Imperial Avenue.
Anthony Sol's next victim'slife story sounds very similar
to Crystal Dozier's.
(27:52):
In fact, most of his victims'life stories sound very much the
same.
Tashauna Culver dropped in andout of her family's lives so
often that they never reportedher missing.
She was 29 years old when shewas last seen in June of 2008.
Tashauna Culver was born onAugust 31, 1978 in Cleveland.
(28:14):
Her parents broke up before sheturned one.
She was a brownie scout andparticipated in the dance line
at school.
She began to write poetry.
She was very good at stylinghair.
She earned a cosmetologylicense and trained to be a
nursing assistant.
She had her first child in the10th grade.
Her and the child's father didnot stay together.
(28:36):
Later she fell in love with aman named Marcus.
They planned to marry, butsadly he was found shot in the
head in 1998.
Her family said she then sankinto depression and started to
abuse drugs.
Tashauna had six children totaland had given birth to several
of her children.
While she was behind bars, shebegan an eight-year on-and-off
(28:58):
relationship with a man namedCarl who fathered three of her
six children.
Her mom and sister ended uptaking care of her kids.
Tashauna and Carl did drugstogether and lived in rooms or
apartments or with friends orrelatives.
Tashauna was sometimes a sexworker to get money for their
drugs.
In 2004 they got cleaned for aspell and tried to make a fresh
(29:20):
start.
They attended narcotics,anonymous meetings.
They got jobs at a factory andTashauna did hair on the side to
earn extra money.
They eventually returned tousing and in 2005 Tashauna was
arrested for domestic violence,for punching and trying to stab
Carl.
Carl got clean in 2006.
Tashauna never did.
(29:41):
She gave birth to her lastchild in 2007.
After she was released from astay in jail, she went to her
family's house on ImperialAvenue, five houses down from
Anthony Sol's house.
Then her mom and sistereventually made her leave to
shield the kids from her druguse.
They last saw her in 2008.
Carl talked to Tashauna onValentine's Day of 2008.
(30:04):
He had moved to Akron, ohio.
He and Tashauna discussedgetting back together and
putting their family backtogether.
They made a plan to meet up inCleveland and she was going to
return to Akron with him Becauseshe never showed up.
At the end of October in 2009,just down the street from her
mom's house, in a house onImperial Avenue, police
(30:26):
discovered the remains of elevenwomen.
Her family wondered if Tashanawas one of those women whose
remains were found.
In early November, the CuyahogaCounty Coroner's Office
confirmed through DNA analysisthat the body found concealed
beneath dirt in a crawl spacewas that of Tashana Culver.
Lashonda Long was born in 1984to a crack-addicted mother.
(30:48):
Her dad wasn't around much.
At six years of age, she andher five siblings were living
with their aunt because of theirmom's addiction.
Lashonda got good grades inschool and had perfect
attendance.
According to her relatives, shelooked out for her siblings and
was very motherly to them.
She was bossy, strong-willedand sassy, but never got into
(31:11):
any trouble.
Her mom led a transientlifestyle and popped in and out
of LaShonda's life throughouther childhood.
Her aunt had two sons of herown and she and all eight
children moved to Indiana for afresh start.
Lashonda became defiant as ateenager and wanted to move back
to Cleveland.
Her aunt relented and allowedLaShonda to move back in with
(31:31):
her father in Cleveland.
Within a year of moving there,she got locked up in juvenile
hall and became pregnant withher first child at the age of
fourteen.
By the age of seventeen, shehad three kids she couldn't care
for and a record All three ofher kids had been born while she
was in juvenile detention.
Her father and other relativestook custody of her kids.
(31:53):
She was arrested several timesas an adult too.
Her family believed she abuseddrugs such as cocaine.
Lashonda was a very talentedwriter.
She had dreams to clean up herlife for herself and her kids.
She wanted to attend college,but she never had a chance to
realize those dreams.
She went missing in August of2008.
(32:16):
In November of 2009, her skullwas found in a black plastic bag
in a red bucket in AnthonySol's basement.
None of LaShonda's other bodyparts were located.
Her life was cut short at theage of twenty-four.
She was the youngest of thevictims found in Anthony Sol's
house of horrors.
(32:38):
Tanya Carmichael was born inCleveland on June 30, 1956.
Her parents divorced when shewas young.
She and her brother were raisedby their mom and grew up on the
east side of Cleveland.
Tanya enjoyed gardening andgrew vegetables and sold them to
people in the neighborhood.
She dropped out of high schoolbut did earn a high school
equivalency certificate.
(32:59):
She gave birth to her firstchild at the age of sixteen.
Then she had another daughter.
She took college courses andworked as a medical secretary
and a barmaid.
She earned a barber license anda real estate license.
She was a loving and protectivemother.
When the crack epidemic firsthit Cleveland, tanya scolded
drug dealers and shooed themaway from her East Cleveland
(33:22):
home because she didn't wantthem, or their drugs, around her
kids.
Later she fell into using andabusing drugs herself.
She gave birth to a son in 1985.
She ended up getting evictedfrom her home and lived here and
there.
She lost custody of her sonwhen he was twelve.
She spent time in prison.
The last time she was seen wasat a family barbecue in 2008.
(33:46):
She was fifty-two years oldwhen she was killed and the
oldest of Anthony Sol's victims.
She was the first one ofAnthony Sol's victims to be
identified.
Her body was found by a cadaverdog.
She was buried in a shallowgrave near the back porch in the
backyard.
Michelle Mason was born onDecember 22, 1963.
(34:07):
She was one of six or sevenkids.
She'd attended a Job Corpsprogram in Cleveland for a while
, but she wanted to travel andleft Ohio to go to New York and
New Jersey.
She didn't stay in closecontact with her family and they
didn't see her for a while.
Her family later learned she'dbecome addicted to heroin.
In 1986, authorities in NewJersey called her family to say
(34:31):
that she'd given birth to a sonshe could not care for.
He was brought to Clevelandwhere her older sister took him
in.
She had another son two yearslater and her mom took care of
him.
They sent Michelle's boys toprivate school and made sure
they went to church.
Michelle was ready to go backhome in the early nineties, so
her mom sent her a bus ticket.
(34:52):
She was thin and sick when shereturned.
She'd become infected with HIVfrom IV drug use.
Between 1993 and 2001, michellewas arrested nine times, mostly
on drug charges.
At some point she got shot inthe face and had to get a glass
eye.
Sometime in 2001, her familybegan to see a change in her
(35:16):
ways.
She attended drug treatmentsessions and then recovery
meetings.
She eventually started livingindependently and managed her
own bills and medication.
She also stayed in regularcontact with both of her sons,
who were then in their twenties.
Her son, shannon, said she wasthe coolest mom ever and very
supportive of him and his dreamsand decisions.
(35:37):
Michelle left her mom's houseon the morning of October 8th
2008, and said she'd returnedlater that day, but she didn't.
A few days later her phone wasgoing straight to voicemail.
Her family filed a missingpersons report and searched for
her.
Her body was recovered a yearlater, on November 3rd 2009,
(35:58):
when a backhoe uncovered fourcorpses in Anthony Sol's
backyard.
Kim Yvette Smith was born onJanuary 20th 1965, at Huron
Hospital in East Cleveland.
She had a half-brother, but hedidn't live with the family, so
Kim was basically an only child.
She liked to play with dolls,watch cartoons and play with her
(36:19):
cousins.
She loved animals.
Her parents divorced before sheentered high school.
She started to hang out with anolder crowd and became
rebellious.
Her dad thinks it was in herhigh school years when she began
using drugs.
She graduated from high schoolin 1983 and later attended
community college where shestudied art and dance.
(36:40):
Two years after graduation, shegot her first felony conviction
for receiving stolen propertyproperty.
Over the years she picked upmore convictions, mostly for
drug offenses.
As an adult, kim had become veryclose with her father.
He was a marine veteran and ina wheelchair.
She'd help him around the houseand he never gave up on her
(37:01):
through her drug addiction.
She'd cook for him, clean andpick up his prescriptions.
He paid for her to go to drugtreatment programs and to
psychologists.
He visited her when she waslocked up.
He gave her a place to stay,food and spending money when she
got out.
Kim never married or hadchildren.
She loved art and singing.
(37:23):
She was an active member of herchurch choir and sometimes
worked as a backup singer forlocal musicians.
The last time Kim got out ofprison was in 2007.
She went to stay at her dad'sapartment, but not long after
she'd moved back in she begandisappearing for days at a time
Her dad knew she was using again.
He last saw her on January 17,2009, a few days before her
(37:49):
birthday.
She hugged and kissed her dadby and said she was going out
for the night.
He never saw her again.
He began his own search for hisdaughter and put up a $1,000
reward for information as to herwhereabouts.
Friends placed flyers aroundthe neighborhood with her
picture on it when her dadlearned of the bodies being
(38:09):
recovered at the House onImperial Avenue.
He filed a missing personsreport.
Investigators asked familymembers of missing women in the
area to provide DNA samples toaid in the identification of the
bodies found.
Kim's dad went to give his DNAand soon learned that his
daughter was gone at the age of44.
Kim's body had been buried inAnthony Sol's backyard.
(38:35):
Nancy Cobbs was born in 1966 inCleveland.
She was an only child.
She dropped out of high schoolwhen she became pregnant, but
did earn a GED.
She ended up having three kids.
She worked in factories, fastfood and housekeeping jobs.
She was a devoted and lovinggrandmother to her grandkids.
(38:55):
Nancy started using drugs in the80s.
She served two years in prisonin the mid-90s for drug
trafficking.
Her mom had custody of her kidsduring that time.
By 2009, she had struck up afriendship with a man from the
neighborhood.
They'd sit on the porch at hermom's house on Griffing Avenue
and drink beer together.
Her family didn't know his name, just knew him by face.
(39:18):
Then, on April 24, 2009, nancywent missing.
Her daughter, audrey, filed amissing persons report.
She posted flyers at cornerstores and on telephone poles.
During the summer of 2009,audrey formed a search group of
more than 30 friends andrelatives to look for her mom.
They went into foreclosed andabandoned homes searching for
(39:41):
Nancy.
When Audrey learned of bodiesbeing found in Anthony Sol's
home, she and her sister went togive their DNA for testing.
They learned the sad, sad newsthat their mom was a victim of
Anthony Sol.
They were shocked to learn thathe was the same man that used
to sit on the porch with theirmom and drink beer.
Nancy's body was one of seventhat still had a ligature around
(40:04):
their necks when she wasrecovered.
Amelda Hunter, who went by Amy,grew up on the south side of
Chicago in the 70s.
She was the sixth of eightchildren.
When she was a kid she was abookworm who loved reading the
classics.
When Amy became pregnant as ateen, her older sister traveled
from Cleveland to pack up hersiblings and their mom.
(40:26):
Her sister thought it'd be goodfor the family to have them
near her, but she said thingsonly got worse.
According to an article onClevelandcom, she says it's
because most everyone in thefamily was drinking and or using
drugs.
One of her older sisters saidit was inevitable that Amy would
get hooked because drugs andalcohol surrounded her.
(40:46):
The older sisters in the familywould sometimes take the
younger underage sisters toneighborhood bars where they'd
drink and mingle with older men.
Amy met a man named Bobby at abar when she was 19.
They had three childrentogether.
He was a heavy drinker butalways kept a roof over their
heads.
(41:07):
He worked a steady job as amachine operator for 25 years.
He said he didn't do drugs andhe didn't realize that Amy had a
crack habit for years, bobbysaid after he learned of her
drug problem.
They fought often and therelationship became rocky.
She would take off and leavethe kids by themselves Several
times.
Amy would go through outpatientdrug treatment programs but
(41:30):
never stayed clean.
She was arrested three timesand served a short stint in 2001
for drug possession.
In the years before her murder,she'd started hanging out with
a friend named Tony who lived at1205 Imperial Avenue.
She'd walk there or get droppedoff there.
In 2007, amy started attendingthe Word Church and it gave her
(41:54):
some hope.
There was about a six-monthperiod where family members
thought she'd gotten cleaned up,but then she just disappeared
in the spring of 2009 at the ageof 46.
Bobby didn't report her missingbecause he just assumed she was
up to her old habits.
Amy Hunter's body was recoveredfrom Anthony Sol's backyard
(42:15):
with a ligature still boundtightly around her neck.
Janice Webb was the fourth ofsix children.
She grew up on Manor Avenue inCleveland.
Her family was active in thechurch.
Janice was a jokester.
She loved to pull pranks on herfamily members.
She graduated from John HayHigh School in 1979, then worked
(42:36):
as a waitress.
She soon had a son, but didn'tstay with his father.
She married a man named Michaelin the early 80s.
They went to visit his familyin Los Angeles for six months
and they introduced Janice todrugs.
When they went back toCleveland, the crack epidemic
was in full swing in theirneighborhood.
Michael started using drugs too, and their marriage started to
(42:58):
deteriorate.
They cheated on each other andargued frequently.
They eventually divorced and in2005 Michael got clean.
Although they weren't togetheranymore, michael still enabled
Janice's drug use.
He last saw her four monthsbefore she disappeared.
She'd stopped by to borrowmoney.
He knew what the money was for,but he gave it to her anyway.
(43:21):
Despite her run-ins with the lawand her drug addiction, janice
stayed in touch with hersiblings on a regular basis, but
she went missing in June of2009 at the age of 48.
Her family looked for her andfiled a missing persons report.
They posted flyers in theneighborhood.
Her body was found in AnthonySol's basement on October 30th
(43:44):
2009.
She still had a ligature aroundher neck.
Tlacia Forston was put into theCuyahoga County foster care
system at the age of five or six.
She was adopted at the age ofnine by a divorcee named Inez
Fortson.
Inez had two sons and one at adaughter.
Tlacia had an artistic side,like her adoptive mom.
(44:07):
Her mom taught her to keep aclean house and to care for
animals.
Tlacia liked to arrange flowersand had a knack for styling
hair.
As a teen, inez tried her bestto get Tlacia to follow her
rules, but she rebelled.
She ran away repeatedly andstayed at different friends'
homes.
At age 17, tlacia was living ata residential treatment facility
(44:30):
that helped abused or neglectedkids or those with mental
health or drug problems.
She got into trouble with thelaw two times while she was
there.
She graduated from high schoolin 1997.
In the early 2000s, she wasarrested on drug charges.
In April of 2003, she had a son.
The baby was taken from her,though, because she'd tested
(44:53):
positive for cocaine while she'dbeen pregnant.
The next year.
She had a baby girl onChristmas Eve of 2004, but she
again tested positive forcocaine.
She lost custody of herdaughter too.
She became pregnant again in2006 and went to Laura's home
for help.
Laura's home is a crisis centerfor women and children.
(45:14):
The workers there thought shewas ready to turn over a new
leaf.
They said she participated inthe activities and was approved
for a job training program.
She was a stable and loving momto her daughter, talia, who had
been born in November of 2006.
Tlacia moved out of Laura'shome in the spring of 2007, but
(45:34):
she relapsed a few months laterand lost custody of her baby.
She returned to Laura's home,but she didn't stay.
She left and never went back.
She got in trouble with the lawin 2008 for stealing money and
spent some time in prison.
She was only 31 years old whenshe was last seen by her
adoptive mom on June 3, 2009.
(45:55):
Tlacia had stopped by her mom'shouse, cleaned it and fried
some chicken for her.
On October 29, 2009, herdecomposed body was found lying
on the floor of Anthony Sol'shome with a ligature around her
neck.
Diane Turner was born onNovember 4, 1970.
She was the second of twochildren.
(46:17):
Reportedly, she was raised byher dad in Cleveland.
Her mom wasn't around much.
She and her brother werephysically abused as children.
Unfortunately, I couldn't findmuch about Diane Turner in her
younger years.
Between 1991 and 2001,.
Diane was arrested a dozentimes on drug charges.
(46:39):
She became a sex worker tosupport her drug habit.
By her mid-20s, diane had threekids, all of which were removed
permanently by the Departmentof Children and Family Services.
In 1994, diane gave birth toher fourth child, but she and
the baby both tested positivefor cocaine.
Then that baby was removed fromher care.
(47:01):
Over the next few years Dianewas in and out of jail.
She also had a fifth baby thatwas taken away.
In the late 90s she met aformer addict named Martin.
He worked as a schoolmaintenance man.
She eventually moved in withhim, but he would not allow her
to stay if she used drugs.
Diane went through a 12-stepprogram and attended church.
(47:23):
In 2001, she and Martin werepulled over on a traffic stop
and Diane was arrested for anearlier probation violation.
She spent six months in jail.
During that time she learnedthat she was pregnant with her
sixth child.
When she was released from jailshe stayed clean and went to
all of her prenatal appointments, she was determined to keep her
(47:45):
and Martin's daughter, whichthey planned to name Denise.
Baby Denise was born inNovember of 2001.
By this time, diane had beencleaned for 21 months.
Nevertheless, cuyahoga CountyDepartment of Children and
Family Services came and removedher baby from her care at just
four days old.
In order to get her daughterback, she agreed to go to
(48:08):
Miracle Village with herdaughter, which was a
residential drug treatmentprogram.
However, officials took BabyDenise in December of 2001,
stating that Diane didn'tproperly care for the baby.
They put the baby in fostercare.
Martin completed parentingclasses and obtained shared
custody of he and Diane'sdaughter.
(48:29):
He shares custody with Denise'sfoster mom.
Diane ended up leaving theprogram because she was
convinced they'd never give herher daughter back.
She didn't complete parentingclasses.
She soon relapsed and wasarrested in 2002 for drug
possession.
Diane and Martin broke up, butalways stayed in contact.
(48:50):
He was there for Diane if sheneeded something.
He last heard from her inSeptember of 2009.
No one had seen her for a fewweeks.
Then women's bodies were foundat the house on Imperial Avenue.
Her daughter, denise, thenseven years old, provided a DNA
sample to compare to the lastunidentified body at the
(49:12):
coroner's office On December 4,2009,.
It was confirmed that the 11thvictim of Anthony's soul was
Diane Turner.
Her decomposing body had beenfound lying on the floor in a
bathroom on the third floor ofAnthony's soul's house.
And that's it for part one ofthe Cleveland Strangler, but
(49:33):
don't worry, you won't have towait long for part two.
In part two, we'll talk aboutthe women that actually escaped
Anthony's soul and his house ofhell.
Their stories are incrediblyfrightening and give us a great
deal of insight into what his 11known murder victims must have
gone through before they werekilled.
(49:53):
We'll also discuss howAnthony's soul got caught, the
discovery of 11 bodies from hishouse on Imperial Avenue and
what ultimately happened toAnthony's soul.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of Tell Me a
True Crime Story.
Please follow or subscribe tothe podcast and tell your
(50:14):
friends, coworkers and familyabout it.
Share the podcast or share anepisode that you loved, and
please follow the podcast onsocial media.
Facebook, instagram and TikTokare at Tell Me a True Crime
Story.
Please write a review for thepodcast and or give it five
stars on Apple or Spotify.
(50:35):
That helps me out so very much.
This podcast is growing andit's thanks to all of you guys
out there who are spreading theword.
Thank you again for being here.
I truly, truly appreciate eachand every one of you.
Please join me in episode 32when I'll tell you another True
(50:55):
Crime Story.
Big hugs to all of you.
Bye-bye.
Tell me a true crime story, music.
There was a mountain of dirtthat was found in the basement
(00:21):
behind the stairwell, which wasunusual, this dirt.
I went down and I looked at itand the dirt was on top of the
concrete floor.
You think maybe it's anotherbody there or whatever.
Two bodies the first day.
A third body in the back of thestairwell, a red bucket about
maybe a foot high, was a skull.
(00:43):
Everywhere you stepped youstepped on rat feces, the flies
were hanging from the ceilingand the stench.
You had decomposed substancesthat came from the body.
You found the other body in theback, two or three feet away
from another body, and then tofind an additional body in the
(01:07):
crawl space, the same type ofdirt that was in the basement.
Now you have one, two, three,four bodies upstairs, one and a
skull in the basement.
Speaker 2 (01:21):
Hey there, welcome to episode 31 of Tell Me a True
Crime Story.
I'm your host, holly.
I want to welcome all of my newlisteners and, of course, a
warm welcome to those of you whohave been here with me since
the get go.
A great big thank you to eachand every one of you for being
here.
You all being here, showing upfor each episode, supporting me
(01:45):
in what I do, has made thispodcast grow lots lately.
You guys have been leavingthose kind reviews too.
You are helping to make thepodcast more relevant and much
more visible to more true crimepodcast fans.
Big, big hugs to all of you.
I know some people getfrustrated when I talk before I
(02:08):
get to the story, but I must saya few things in the beginning,
because we're like family and Ihave stuff to say to y'all.
I want you guys to get to knowme a bit and I really wish I
could be nosy and get to knowyou guys a bit too, since I
can't really ask you guysquestions.
(02:28):
I mean really I can.
In the future we can do meetand greets and stuff like other
podcasts do when I get morelisteners and somebody will
actually show up to them.
I would love to do that,because I would love to see you
guys, hug you guys and get toknow you guys and see your face
(02:48):
and thank you in person.
But until then, if you justwant to hear the story and get
to the story and you don't wantto hear me talk or do any of
that, just use the handy dandyfast forward button and just
click it a few times.
Don't leave me a stinky reviewor just quit me forever just
because I have a few things tosay to my podcast, peoples and
(03:10):
family.
Just click ahead a little bit.
So I hope that all of you outthere are doing okay.
Well, I hope you're doingbetter than okay.
I hope you're doing good orgreat.
I know that times right now aretough for a lot of people.
Money wise, everybody's workingso much and so hard to take
care of everything and everybody, and those of you who are
(03:34):
already like comfortable anddon't have to worry too much
about finances I know you guyshave to work very hard to and
put lots of time into whateverit is that you do that's made
you successful.
So everybody out there is juststressed and working hard and
putting in a lot of hours, andtimes are just tough right now.
I know that and I know thatlife in general can be very
(03:57):
tough, and I'm just thankfulthat you guys let me be like a
small sliver of your busy, busylife.
This past week was a really busyone for me.
All that I wanted to do andneeded to do all the time it's
like I can never seem to get itall done.
Even this episode is coming atyou like several hours late and
(04:21):
I'm sorry for that.
I just had a couple ofunexpected things happen this
week that put me behind.
But yeah, so in the not sodistant past I wasn't releasing
episodes consistently because Iwas just like really overwhelmed
.
I mean, I still am now, butthen I was like, oh well, I
don't have that many listenersand nobody's really going to
(04:42):
care.
But now you know, I've grown somuch that it really lit a fire
under my ass.
It's held me accountable, soit's been a good thing.
So even when I'm dead tired, Imake sure that I'm working on
the next episode so that I canget it out on time, because I do
not want to let any of you guysdown.
(05:02):
I'm asking for reviews and youguys are giving them to me and
so many of those reviews aresaying keep the episodes coming.
So you guys have inspired me,so so, very much.
You have made all of the longhours of research, writing, hard
work in the long, long nightsthat stretch into the like
morning when I got to get up andtake my son to school and I
(05:23):
only get like two hours of sleep.
You've made all of that worthit.
So please know that when I saythank you for listening and
being here, I mean it from thevery bottom of my heart, because
what is all this for if I havenobody on my side?
I have nobody on the other endlistening to me.
So, yeah, I've gotten more fivestar reviews this week and you
(05:46):
know I'm going to read themreally quick because I have to
personally thank those of youwho took the time to do that, to
do that for me.
Fienna said love this, love theportrayals of all the different
stories.
Thank you so much, fienna.
Big hugs to you and please keeplistening.
And to Shay.
(06:07):
1981 said the sweetest thingever get this.
This was a surprise to me.
I love your voice.
I just found this podcast and Ilove it.
And about to binge when I say Ijust found it.
I'm talking about yesterday.
Your voice is so beautiful.
And then she put four red heartemojis.
(06:28):
Oh my to Shay.
Never have I ever thought thatmy voice was good, let alone
beautiful.
But I will take it and acceptthat lovely compliment from you
to Shay 1981.
Thank you so much.
Those were very sweet words andthank you for taking the time
(06:49):
out to review the podcast for me.
Big, big hugs and squeezes toyou.
And then this very kind fivestar review from Dino.
He says great stories.
I listen as I drive all day.
Dino from Pennsylvania.
Dino, thank you so much forthat review.
That is so sweet of you.
I am so thankful that you takeme along with you as you drive
(07:12):
around.
Please be safe out there andwatch out for the crazies on the
road.
Big, big hugs and squeezes toall of you guys.
I hope that you and your familyare happy, healthy and together
forever.
And if you don't know why that'sbecome my little saying, I
explain it in the beginning ofthe episode that's called
(07:33):
condemned row stories womencondemned to die.
That episode was from Februaryand that's where I talk about
how I got that little saying ifyou want to go back and listen
to it.
But if you do go back andlisten to it, you can't make fun
of me if I sound awful.
I was still pretty new at thisand still very, very nervous on
the mic.
So Now let me tell you a truecrime story.
(07:56):
Today, I'm going to tell youthe story of Anthony Soul, whose
nickname was the ClevelandStrangler.
I did cover this story, thisserial killer, in the past, but
I can tell by looking at mystats that many of my listeners,
especially my new listenershave not listened to those two
episodes where I cover that case, and even if you did listen to
(08:20):
those to my old ones.
This one has been updated andre-recorded, so it's worth
listening to again and, don'tworry, I'll have a brand new
case for you really soon.
There is a 2016 documentarycalled Unseen about this case
and you can watch it for free ifyou have an Amazon Prime
membership.
And in addition to thatdocumentary, oxygen has two
(08:44):
episodes on this particular case.
One is on there living with aserial killer series and the
other one is on Snapped.
So those are all prettyinteresting and they cover a lot
of interesting facts about thiscase.
His name is Anthony Soul,serial killer, and he was dubbed
(09:07):
the Cleveland Strangler.
So Halloween is quicklyapproaching and, in sticking
with that theme, the serialkiller that we're going to cover
was arrested on Halloween in2009.
Excuse me, this is part one andthere will be a part two
released ASAP.
I won't wait until next week torelease part two.
(09:29):
I will put it out there as soonas I get it done, so keep an
eye out for that.
So let's get a feel for whereour story takes place.
The crux of our story todaybegins in the year 2007.
We're traveling to ImperialAvenue in Cleveland, ohio's
District 4.
(09:49):
District 4 is 11.3 square miles.
In 2000, the population ofDistrict 4 was about 87,000.
In 2000, the median householdincome was about $25,000, but in
the poorest neighborhood ofDistrict 4, kingsman, the median
household income was only$12,500.
(10:11):
According to the City ofCleveland's Planning Commission
website, district 4 was at onetime or another home to many
different European immigrantgroups, but is now 97% African
American.
Imperial Avenue is on theborder of two East Cleveland
neighborhoods.
Mount Pleasant is to the southof Imperial Avenue and Buckeye
(10:34):
Shaker is to its north.
Mount Pleasant was once alively working class
neighborhood, but the previousfew decades prior to 2007 had
not been kind to Mount Pleasant.
The area experienced the lossof many jobs and the crack
cocaine epidemic hit this areareally hard.
East Cleveland as a whole wasone of the poorest cities in
(10:59):
America at the time.
There were thousands ofabandoned homes in Cleveland and
East Cleveland.
Many of them were just too fargone to be rehabbed and were in
need of demolition.
Anthony Edwards-Soul was born inCleveland, ohio, in 1959.
His parents divorced sometimein the 60s and he was raised by
(11:20):
his mother, claudia.
Also living in the home werehis maternal grandmother, irene,
and his siblings, tressa andJunior.
Anthony Soul had another sisternamed Patricia Davis Hatcher,
who died in 1969.
She had seven children that hermom, claudia, took in when she
passed away.
So there were 12 people livingin their home Anthony Soul, his
(11:43):
brother, his sister, his mom,his grandma and seven of his
nieces and nephews.
According to testimony from someof his sister's kids that had
moved in with them when theirmom died, which were Anthony
Soul's nieces and nephews, theywere subjected to regular severe
abuse while living there.
For instance, claudia wouldstrip them naked.
(12:05):
Now Claudia is Anthony Soul'smom, so she would be the grandma
to those kids.
Her daughter died.
She took in all seven of herdaughter's kids so these are her
grandchildren.
Claudia would strip them naked,tie them to a banister and beat
(12:25):
them with an extension corduntil she was tired.
Claudia's mom, irene, wouldbeat them with a switch or a
cane.
They testified that a beatingcould take place at any time,
including even at 2 or 3 am, forsomething as small as leaving a
dirty dish in the sink.
One of the boys testified thathe was subjected to beatings
(12:46):
like that almost daily and attimes severe enough to draw
blood.
According to Anthony Soul'ssister's kids, claudia never
subjected her own children,vanessa, junior or Anthony, to
these types of beatings.
However, her children didwitness the beatings.
One of the kids testified thatat times Anthony Soul would just
(13:08):
sit there and laugh as theother kids were beaten by his
mother.
One of the girls testified thatwhen she was 10 years old,
anthony Soul, who was about 11years old at the time, raped her
almost every day.
Anthony Soul attended ProspectElementary School and Kirk
Junior High School in EastCleveland.
His teachers testified that hewas an average student with a
(13:31):
very good attendance record.
They had not observed anyindication that he had been
physically abused.
At age 19, anthony Soulenlisted in the United States
Marine Corps For eight years,from 1978 to 1985, anthony Soul
served active duty in SouthCarolina, north Carolina,
california, and in Okinawa,japan.
(13:53):
He was an above average Marine.
Upon graduation from boot camp,anthony Soul was promoted to
private first class, the onlyMarine from his 55-member
platoon to receive thisdistinction.
He was also awarded two goodconduct medals reflecting three
years of service without anydisciplinary action, and
(14:14):
received other awards for goodperformance.
He was promoted to LanceCorporal, corporal and Sergeant.
Anthony Soul was chosen toattend an advanced electrician
school and only 30% of Marinesare chosen for an advanced
school.
Anthony Soul was involved intwo minor disciplinary matters
during his Marine career.
(14:35):
He received quote-unquotenon-judicial punishment in both,
rather than a court martial.
His conduct marks exceeded therequirement for an honorable
discharge, which he received in1985.
Twyla Austin had begun datingAnthony Soul when she was in
high school.
She became pregnant with hischild and their daughter was
(14:56):
born in 1978, eight and a halfmonths after he had joined the
Marines.
Twyla testified at AnthonySoul's trial that during visits
to Ohio he had visited theirdaughter.
He had come pick her up andtake her over to his mother's
house.
Twyla said she had received asupport check from the Marines
every month for their daughter.
Anthony Soul met and married afellow Marine named Kim Yvette
(15:21):
Lawson while serving in themilitary.
Reportedly, they married in1981, and the marriage fell
apart by 1985.
Kim Yvette Lawson died in 1998.
In 1989, a woman named MelvetteSockwell's car broke down and
she walked to a motel nearEuclid Avenue and Lee Boulevard
in East Cleveland.
(15:41):
She met Anthony Soul there andasked him if she could use his
phone.
He took Melvette to his homeless than a half a mile away
from the motel, located at 1878Page Avenue.
He took her upstairs to a roomand locked the door.
He had a huge butcher knife andraped her at knife point.
He choked her and raped herover and over again.
(16:03):
After raping her, he cleanedher up with a rag, then stuffed
that same rag in her mouth.
He bound her hands with anecktie and her feet with a belt
.
He told her to say her prayersbecause he was going to feed her
then kill her.
Then Anthony Sol, who had beendrinking, laid down and went to
sleep.
Melvette rolled off the bed andwent to the window.
(16:24):
She was still bound and gagged,so she pushed the window up
with her head.
She escaped onto the roof ofthe house.
She saw two older women belowout by the street and made
noises behind her gag to gettheir attention Mmm, mmm, mmm.
A woman looked up and Melvetteturned to let her see that her
hands were tied up.
The woman said oh my God, andthe police were called.
(16:48):
When the police arrived toarrest Anthony Sol, he was still
sleeping.
On June 24, 1990, another womantold police that Anthony Sol
raped and choked her in her homelocated on East 71st Street in
Cleveland.
He was arrested but chargeswere not filed against him
because, reportedly, the womanwas not willing to testify.
(17:11):
In 1990, anthony Sol pleadedguilty to a lesser charge of
attempted rape for the attack onMelvette Sockwell and served
fifteen years in prison.
He was released from prison in2005 at the age of forty-five
years old.
Upon his release, he was deemeda sexually oriented offender
and unlikely to reoffend.
(17:32):
A sexually oriented offenderwas the least restrictive status
category.
He was required to report hisaddress to the Sheriff's Office
once a year for ten years.
Because of a change in OhioState law in 2008, anthony Sol
was reclassified from a sexuallyoriented offender to a Tier 3
(17:52):
sex offender.
He was required to go to thecounty's sex offender's
registration office and reporthis address once every ninety
days for the rest of his life.
According to the Ohio AttorneyGeneral's Office, quote a Tier 3
sex offender is a person whohas been convicted of or pleaded
guilty to a sexually orientedoffence that is punishable by
(18:16):
imprisonment for more than oneyear.
A Tier 3 offender is subject tostrict address verification.
The community and victim orvictims receive notification
whenever such an offenderrelocates to a new address.
End quote.
So after he left prison, anthonySol moved into the attic area
(18:37):
of his late father and stepmom'shouse at 1205 Imperial Avenue
in the Mount Pleasantneighborhood of East Cleveland.
Anthony Sol's stepmom, sagarnaSol, was not in good health.
She spent a lot of time inhospitals, which left Anthony
Sol, the lone occupant in thehome nearly all of the time.
(18:58):
There were lots of houses onImperial Avenue near the Sol
residence at the time that havesince been torn down.
Next door to the Sol home is asmall sausage factory named
Ray's Sausage.
It has been there since 1952.
House Imperial Avenue is asmall pizza shop called Best
(19:18):
Chicken and Pizza.
Across 123rd Street from Ray'sSausage was Amira Imperial
Beverage, a corner conveniencestore.
In 2007, just two years afterAnthony Sol was released from
prison and moved into the houseon Imperial Avenue, women in the
neighborhoods of Mount Pleasantand Buckeye Shaker in East
(19:39):
Cleveland started disappearing.
Author said Anthony Sol prayedon his victims' weaknesses and
vulnerabilities.
They were drug-addicted andtransient.
Some of them were homeless.
He used drugs and alcohol tolure them to his home.
In fact, reportedly, when wordgot out that he gave out free
drugs to ladies, he had so manywomen knocking on his door at
(20:01):
all hours of the day and nightthat he ended up disconnecting
his doorbell.
On this time, 2007, anthony Solwas about five, eleven or six
feet tall and weighed 155 to 160pounds.
He had a job at Custom Rubber,which was a rubber factory that
made buckets.
In February of 2007, hesuffered a heart attack.
(20:23):
He was hospitalized andreceived a pacemaker.
He later returned to light dutyat work, then was eventually
released to regular duty.
However, by July of that year,he was physically unable to
perform his duties as aninjection mold machine operator
and was laid off.
He began receiving unemployment.
(20:46):
Anthony Sol liked to sit on hisfront steps and drink 40-ounce
King Cobra malt liquor that cost$1.50 per bottle.
Sometimes a woman would bedrinking there with him.
He hung out around the cornerconvenience store and bummed
change from people in theneighborhood.
He would sometimes be seenpushing a shopping cart up and
(21:07):
down the street collecting cansand scrap metal to sell for an
extra buck.
He had a profile on an onlinedating service that said he was
a master looking for asubmissive to train.
He had barbecues in hisdriveway and invited people from
the neighborhood.
He even had a girlfriend thatlived with him for a couple of
years.
Her name was Lori Frazier.
(21:29):
She is a recovering addict andniece of the four-term former
mayor, frank Jackson ofCleveland.
Lori Frazier and Anthony Sol metin 2005 after his 15-year
prison stint was over.
She was looking for beerwalking down East 116th Street
when she bumped into him.
They'd spent that eveningtogether drinking at a local bar
(21:52):
.
After that he invited her backto his house.
She moved in with him shortlyafter.
She said he was quiet but hetreated her well.
He did the cooking and cleaningand supported her, even though
she had a serious crackaddiction.
Then Anthony Sol began smokingcrack too.
She said this changed hisdemeanor and he became real
(22:12):
nasty, angry, mean andaggressive.
He'd fly into a rage andthreatened to throw her out of a
window.
He would periodically put herout of the house.
She would come home to findthat he was entertaining
strangers in the house and hebrought other women over when
she wasn't there.
Lori's mom died in 2007 and shedecided to get clean.
(22:33):
She told him they could not betogether if he continued to use,
but he didn't stop and Lori andAnthony Sol broke up sometime
in 2007 and she moved out of hishouse.
But they still kept in touchand she still visited his house
from time to time, she said.
After their break up and shemoved out, his attitude and
demeanor continued to worsen.
(22:54):
She said that when she visitedhis home, she saw that a
sitting-room on the third floorwas locked and off limits, but
it had never been before.
They used to use it as theirbedroom.
When Lori was asked if she'dnoticed a bad odor when she was
at Anthony Sol's home, she saidshe did and she'd asked him
about it.
He said that the smell was fromhis stepmother downstairs.
(23:16):
When his stepmom left, heblamed the smell on Ray's
sausage next door.
Normally, lori and Anthony Solstop seeing each other
altogether, but theirrelationship had been very
important to Anthony Sol,according to court documents.
These are quotes from AnthonySol about Lori and their time
together.
Quote.
(23:37):
Let me tell you a story abouther Crackhead.
But I loved her and I helpedher.
I used to go out on the streetand look for her because I would
be worried She'd leave and begone for days and weeks.
I said At least call and let meknow you're all right.
I said why don't you let me getyou some help?
I said I will be there for you,I will come visit you, I will
(23:58):
help you.
I think I called suicideprevention.
I spent the whole weekend justcrying.
End quote.
With the benefit of hindsight,lori said that looking back, she
had seen suspicious injuries onAnthony Sol, most likely
evidence of his encounters withthe women he victimized and
murdered.
Sometimes she saw a deep gashon his head and blood on the
(24:20):
floor and walls in his home.
He said that an intruder hadentered his home and they'd had
a fight.
Another time he had flesh tornfrom his neck.
He told Lori that a homelessperson jumped on him near an
abandoned building and yet inanother incident he'd gotten his
throat sliced so badly thewound required stitches.
He told Lori that he'd gottenrobbed while walking through the
(24:43):
park at night Another time,lori came home and Anthony Sol
had blood gushing from his head.
He said, quote, you don't haveto worry about them no more
because I killed their ass, endquote.
He didn't explain further andLori didn't press the issue.
She didn't really believe himanyway.
She didn't think he was capableof killing anyone.
(25:03):
Next we're going to talk aboutAnthony Sol's murder victims,
the plain dealer.
A newspaper in Clevelandprofiled all of the women in
2011 and that's where I got thebulk of the information from
about them.
In 2007, crystal Dozier was 35years old and a former
telemarketer.
She cleaned homes and didshopping for her elderly
(25:25):
neighbors.
She was a mother of sevenchildren and was addicted to
crack cocaine.
She was born in 1971 and wasthe second oldest of four
children.
When she was a kid, she likedto dress up in frilly outfits
and she'd been a little motherhand to her younger siblings.
She spent hours in the kitchenwith her mom learning how to
cook.
(25:46):
She got pregnant at 13 and thebaby's father was 17 years old.
Then she got pregnant again at14.
This time, the father was 20years old.
They married in 1987 and wenton to have five more children
together.
She became addicted to crackaround.
This time she was 16 years old,cuyahoga County.
(26:08):
Social service records indicatethat she and her husband were
unfit parents.
One document noted that heroldest son had marks on his body
from beatings.
Her husband was arrested manytimes on various charges, such
as grand theft, breaking andentering and drug charges.
Crystal's two oldest childrenwent to live with her mom, and
(26:28):
her other five kids ended up infoster care.
Crystal had a string of arreststoo, for charges such as
possession, theft and drugtrafficking.
When her mom was arrested on adrug charge, crystal's two
oldest kids were ultimately putinto separate foster homes.
Her four youngest daughtersended up getting adopted by the
(26:49):
same family.
One of her sons died at age 11from complications due to asthma
.
She and her husband broke up in1994 and she later remarried.
She had a long period ofsobriety with this man, but then
Crystal fell off the wagon andended up doing almost a year in
prison in 2004 for drugtrafficking.
(27:09):
Her husband died while she waslocked up.
She cleaned herself up for abit when she got out, but ended
up back on drugs.
She was last seen on May 17,2007.
Her oldest child, anthonyDozier, filed a missing persons
report on June 11, 2007.
He'd just returned from a tourin the Marines.
(27:31):
For the next almost year and ahalf he'd drive around the
streets of East Clevelandsearching for his mom.
Her body was discovered nearlya year and a half later with a
ligature around her neck, buriedin Anthony Sol's backyard on
Imperial Avenue.
Anthony Sol's next victim'slife story sounds very similar
to Crystal Dozier's.
(27:52):
In fact, most of his victims'life stories sound very much the
same.
Tashauna Culver dropped in andout of her family's lives so
often that they never reportedher missing.
She was 29 years old when shewas last seen in June of 2008.
Tashauna Culver was born onAugust 31, 1978 in Cleveland.
(28:14):
Her parents broke up before sheturned one.
She was a brownie scout andparticipated in the dance line
at school.
She began to write poetry.
She was very good at stylinghair.
She earned a cosmetologylicense and trained to be a
nursing assistant.
She had her first child in the10th grade.
Her and the child's father didnot stay together.
(28:36):
Later she fell in love with aman named Marcus.
They planned to marry, butsadly he was found shot in the
head in 1998.
Her family said she then sankinto depression and started to
abuse drugs.
Tashauna had six children totaland had given birth to several
of her children.
While she was behind bars, shebegan an eight-year on-and-off
(28:58):
relationship with a man namedCarl who fathered three of her
six children.
Her mom and sister ended uptaking care of her kids.
Tashauna and Carl did drugstogether and lived in rooms or
apartments or with friends orrelatives.
Tashauna was sometimes a sexworker to get money for their
drugs.
In 2004 they got cleaned for aspell and tried to make a fresh
(29:20):
start.
They attended narcotics,anonymous meetings.
They got jobs at a factory andTashauna did hair on the side to
earn extra money.
They eventually returned tousing and in 2005 Tashauna was
arrested for domestic violence,for punching and trying to stab
Carl.
Carl got clean in 2006.
Tashauna never did.
(29:41):
She gave birth to her lastchild in 2007.
After she was released from astay in jail, she went to her
family's house on ImperialAvenue, five houses down from
Anthony Sol's house.
Then her mom and sistereventually made her leave to
shield the kids from her druguse.
They last saw her in 2008.
Carl talked to Tashauna onValentine's Day of 2008.
(30:04):
He had moved to Akron, ohio.
He and Tashauna discussedgetting back together and
putting their family backtogether.
They made a plan to meet up inCleveland and she was going to
return to Akron with him Becauseshe never showed up.
At the end of October in 2009,just down the street from her
mom's house, in a house onImperial Avenue, police
(30:26):
discovered the remains of elevenwomen.
Her family wondered if Tashanawas one of those women whose
remains were found.
In early November, the CuyahogaCounty Coroner's Office
confirmed through DNA analysisthat the body found concealed
beneath dirt in a crawl spacewas that of Tashana Culver.
Lashonda Long was born in 1984to a crack-addicted mother.
(30:48):
Her dad wasn't around much.
At six years of age, she andher five siblings were living
with their aunt because of theirmom's addiction.
Lashonda got good grades inschool and had perfect
attendance.
According to her relatives, shelooked out for her siblings and
was very motherly to them.
She was bossy, strong-willedand sassy, but never got into
(31:11):
any trouble.
Her mom led a transientlifestyle and popped in and out
of LaShonda's life throughouther childhood.
Her aunt had two sons of herown and she and all eight
children moved to Indiana for afresh start.
Lashonda became defiant as ateenager and wanted to move back
to Cleveland.
Her aunt relented and allowedLaShonda to move back in with
(31:31):
her father in Cleveland.
Within a year of moving there,she got locked up in juvenile
hall and became pregnant withher first child at the age of
fourteen.
By the age of seventeen, shehad three kids she couldn't care
for and a record All three ofher kids had been born while she
was in juvenile detention.
Her father and other relativestook custody of her kids.
(31:53):
She was arrested several timesas an adult too.
Her family believed she abuseddrugs such as cocaine.
Lashonda was a very talentedwriter.
She had dreams to clean up herlife for herself and her kids.
She wanted to attend college,but she never had a chance to
realize those dreams.
She went missing in August of2008.
(32:16):
In November of 2009, her skullwas found in a black plastic bag
in a red bucket in AnthonySol's basement.
None of LaShonda's other bodyparts were located.
Her life was cut short at theage of twenty-four.
She was the youngest of thevictims found in Anthony Sol's
house of horrors.
(32:38):
Tanya Carmichael was born inCleveland on June 30, 1956.
Her parents divorced when shewas young.
She and her brother were raisedby their mom and grew up on the
east side of Cleveland.
Tanya enjoyed gardening andgrew vegetables and sold them to
people in the neighborhood.
She dropped out of high schoolbut did earn a high school
equivalency certificate.
(32:59):
She gave birth to her firstchild at the age of sixteen.
Then she had another daughter.
She took college courses andworked as a medical secretary
and a barmaid.
She earned a barber license anda real estate license.
She was a loving and protectivemother.
When the crack epidemic firsthit Cleveland, tanya scolded
drug dealers and shooed themaway from her East Cleveland
(33:22):
home because she didn't wantthem, or their drugs, around her
kids.
Later she fell into using andabusing drugs herself.
She gave birth to a son in 1985.
She ended up getting evictedfrom her home and lived here and
there.
She lost custody of her sonwhen he was twelve.
She spent time in prison.
The last time she was seen wasat a family barbecue in 2008.
(33:46):
She was fifty-two years oldwhen she was killed and the
oldest of Anthony Sol's victims.
She was the first one ofAnthony Sol's victims to be
identified.
Her body was found by a cadaverdog.
She was buried in a shallowgrave near the back porch in the
backyard.
Michelle Mason was born onDecember 22, 1963.
(34:07):
She was one of six or sevenkids.
She'd attended a Job Corpsprogram in Cleveland for a while
, but she wanted to travel andleft Ohio to go to New York and
New Jersey.
She didn't stay in closecontact with her family and they
didn't see her for a while.
Her family later learned she'dbecome addicted to heroin.
In 1986, authorities in NewJersey called her family to say
(34:31):
that she'd given birth to a sonshe could not care for.
He was brought to Clevelandwhere her older sister took him
in.
She had another son two yearslater and her mom took care of
him.
They sent Michelle's boys toprivate school and made sure
they went to church.
Michelle was ready to go backhome in the early nineties, so
her mom sent her a bus ticket.
(34:52):
She was thin and sick when shereturned.
She'd become infected with HIVfrom IV drug use.
Between 1993 and 2001, michellewas arrested nine times, mostly
on drug charges.
At some point she got shot inthe face and had to get a glass
eye.
Sometime in 2001, her familybegan to see a change in her
(35:16):
ways.
She attended drug treatmentsessions and then recovery
meetings.
She eventually started livingindependently and managed her
own bills and medication.
She also stayed in regularcontact with both of her sons,
who were then in their twenties.
Her son, shannon, said she wasthe coolest mom ever and very
supportive of him and his dreamsand decisions.
(35:37):
Michelle left her mom's houseon the morning of October 8th
2008, and said she'd returnedlater that day, but she didn't.
A few days later her phone wasgoing straight to voicemail.
Her family filed a missingpersons report and searched for
her.
Her body was recovered a yearlater, on November 3rd 2009,
(35:58):
when a backhoe uncovered fourcorpses in Anthony Sol's
backyard.
Kim Yvette Smith was born onJanuary 20th 1965, at Huron
Hospital in East Cleveland.
She had a half-brother, but hedidn't live with the family, so
Kim was basically an only child.
She liked to play with dolls,watch cartoons and play with her
(36:19):
cousins.
She loved animals.
Her parents divorced before sheentered high school.
She started to hang out with anolder crowd and became
rebellious.
Her dad thinks it was in herhigh school years when she began
using drugs.
She graduated from high schoolin 1983 and later attended
community college where shestudied art and dance.
(36:40):
Two years after graduation, shegot her first felony conviction
for receiving stolen propertyproperty.
Over the years she picked upmore convictions, mostly for
drug offenses.
As an adult, kim had become veryclose with her father.
He was a marine veteran and ina wheelchair.
She'd help him around the houseand he never gave up on her
(37:01):
through her drug addiction.
She'd cook for him, clean andpick up his prescriptions.
He paid for her to go to drugtreatment programs and to
psychologists.
He visited her when she waslocked up.
He gave her a place to stay,food and spending money when she
got out.
Kim never married or hadchildren.
She loved art and singing.
(37:23):
She was an active member of herchurch choir and sometimes
worked as a backup singer forlocal musicians.
The last time Kim got out ofprison was in 2007.
She went to stay at her dad'sapartment, but not long after
she'd moved back in she begandisappearing for days at a time
Her dad knew she was using again.
He last saw her on January 17,2009, a few days before her
(37:49):
birthday.
She hugged and kissed her dadby and said she was going out
for the night.
He never saw her again.
He began his own search for hisdaughter and put up a $1,000
reward for information as to herwhereabouts.
Friends placed flyers aroundthe neighborhood with her
picture on it when her dadlearned of the bodies being
(38:09):
recovered at the House onImperial Avenue.
He filed a missing personsreport.
Investigators asked familymembers of missing women in the
area to provide DNA samples toaid in the identification of the
bodies found.
Kim's dad went to give his DNAand soon learned that his
daughter was gone at the age of44.
Kim's body had been buried inAnthony Sol's backyard.
(38:35):
Nancy Cobbs was born in 1966 inCleveland.
She was an only child.
She dropped out of high schoolwhen she became pregnant, but
did earn a GED.
She ended up having three kids.
She worked in factories, fastfood and housekeeping jobs.
She was a devoted and lovinggrandmother to her grandkids.
(38:55):
Nancy started using drugs in the80s.
She served two years in prisonin the mid-90s for drug
trafficking.
Her mom had custody of her kidsduring that time.
By 2009, she had struck up afriendship with a man from the
neighborhood.
They'd sit on the porch at hermom's house on Griffing Avenue
and drink beer together.
Her family didn't know his name, just knew him by face.
(39:18):
Then, on April 24, 2009, nancywent missing.
Her daughter, audrey, filed amissing persons report.
She posted flyers at cornerstores and on telephone poles.
During the summer of 2009,audrey formed a search group of
more than 30 friends andrelatives to look for her mom.
They went into foreclosed andabandoned homes searching for
(39:41):
Nancy.
When Audrey learned of bodiesbeing found in Anthony Sol's
home, she and her sister went togive their DNA for testing.
They learned the sad, sad newsthat their mom was a victim of
Anthony Sol.
They were shocked to learn thathe was the same man that used
to sit on the porch with theirmom and drink beer.
Nancy's body was one of seventhat still had a ligature around
(40:04):
their necks when she wasrecovered.
Amelda Hunter, who went by Amy,grew up on the south side of
Chicago in the 70s.
She was the sixth of eightchildren.
When she was a kid she was abookworm who loved reading the
classics.
When Amy became pregnant as ateen, her older sister traveled
from Cleveland to pack up hersiblings and their mom.
(40:26):
Her sister thought it'd be goodfor the family to have them
near her, but she said thingsonly got worse.
According to an article onClevelandcom, she says it's
because most everyone in thefamily was drinking and or using
drugs.
One of her older sisters saidit was inevitable that Amy would
get hooked because drugs andalcohol surrounded her.
(40:46):
The older sisters in the familywould sometimes take the
younger underage sisters toneighborhood bars where they'd
drink and mingle with older men.
Amy met a man named Bobby at abar when she was 19.
They had three childrentogether.
He was a heavy drinker butalways kept a roof over their
heads.
(41:07):
He worked a steady job as amachine operator for 25 years.
He said he didn't do drugs andhe didn't realize that Amy had a
crack habit for years, bobbysaid after he learned of her
drug problem.
They fought often and therelationship became rocky.
She would take off and leavethe kids by themselves Several
times.
Amy would go through outpatientdrug treatment programs but
(41:30):
never stayed clean.
She was arrested three timesand served a short stint in 2001
for drug possession.
In the years before her murder,she'd started hanging out with
a friend named Tony who lived at1205 Imperial Avenue.
She'd walk there or get droppedoff there.
In 2007, amy started attendingthe Word Church and it gave her
(41:54):
some hope.
There was about a six-monthperiod where family members
thought she'd gotten cleaned up,but then she just disappeared
in the spring of 2009 at the ageof 46.
Bobby didn't report her missingbecause he just assumed she was
up to her old habits.
Amy Hunter's body was recoveredfrom Anthony Sol's backyard
(42:15):
with a ligature still boundtightly around her neck.
Janice Webb was the fourth ofsix children.
She grew up on Manor Avenue inCleveland.
Her family was active in thechurch.
Janice was a jokester.
She loved to pull pranks on herfamily members.
She graduated from John HayHigh School in 1979, then worked
(42:36):
as a waitress.
She soon had a son, but didn'tstay with his father.
She married a man named Michaelin the early 80s.
They went to visit his familyin Los Angeles for six months
and they introduced Janice todrugs.
When they went back toCleveland, the crack epidemic
was in full swing in theirneighborhood.
Michael started using drugs too, and their marriage started to
(42:58):
deteriorate.
They cheated on each other andargued frequently.
They eventually divorced and in2005 Michael got clean.
Although they weren't togetheranymore, michael still enabled
Janice's drug use.
He last saw her four monthsbefore she disappeared.
She'd stopped by to borrowmoney.
He knew what the money was for,but he gave it to her anyway.
(43:21):
Despite her run-ins with the lawand her drug addiction, janice
stayed in touch with hersiblings on a regular basis, but
she went missing in June of2009 at the age of 48.
Her family looked for her andfiled a missing persons report.
They posted flyers in theneighborhood.
Her body was found in AnthonySol's basement on October 30th
(43:44):
2009.
She still had a ligature aroundher neck.
Tlacia Forston was put into theCuyahoga County foster care
system at the age of five or six.
She was adopted at the age ofnine by a divorcee named Inez
Fortson.
Inez had two sons and one at adaughter.
Tlacia had an artistic side,like her adoptive mom.
(44:07):
Her mom taught her to keep aclean house and to care for
animals.
Tlacia liked to arrange flowersand had a knack for styling
hair.
As a teen, inez tried her bestto get Tlacia to follow her
rules, but she rebelled.
She ran away repeatedly andstayed at different friends'
homes.
At age 17, tlacia was living ata residential treatment facility
(44:30):
that helped abused or neglectedkids or those with mental
health or drug problems.
She got into trouble with thelaw two times while she was
there.
She graduated from high schoolin 1997.
In the early 2000s, she wasarrested on drug charges.
In April of 2003, she had a son.
The baby was taken from her,though, because she'd tested
(44:53):
positive for cocaine while she'dbeen pregnant.
The next year.
She had a baby girl onChristmas Eve of 2004, but she
again tested positive forcocaine.
She lost custody of herdaughter too.
She became pregnant again in2006 and went to Laura's home
for help.
Laura's home is a crisis centerfor women and children.
(45:14):
The workers there thought shewas ready to turn over a new
leaf.
They said she participated inthe activities and was approved
for a job training program.
She was a stable and loving momto her daughter, talia, who had
been born in November of 2006.
Tlacia moved out of Laura'shome in the spring of 2007, but
(45:34):
she relapsed a few months laterand lost custody of her baby.
She returned to Laura's home,but she didn't stay.
She left and never went back.
She got in trouble with the lawin 2008 for stealing money and
spent some time in prison.
She was only 31 years old whenshe was last seen by her
adoptive mom on June 3, 2009.
(45:55):
Tlacia had stopped by her mom'shouse, cleaned it and fried
some chicken for her.
On October 29, 2009, herdecomposed body was found lying
on the floor of Anthony Sol'shome with a ligature around her
neck.
Diane Turner was born onNovember 4, 1970.
She was the second of twochildren.
(46:17):
Reportedly, she was raised byher dad in Cleveland.
Her mom wasn't around much.
She and her brother werephysically abused as children.
Unfortunately, I couldn't findmuch about Diane Turner in her
younger years.
Between 1991 and 2001,.
Diane was arrested a dozentimes on drug charges.
(46:39):
She became a sex worker tosupport her drug habit.
By her mid-20s, diane had threekids, all of which were removed
permanently by the Departmentof Children and Family Services.
In 1994, diane gave birth toher fourth child, but she and
the baby both tested positivefor cocaine.
Then that baby was removed fromher care.
(47:01):
Over the next few years Dianewas in and out of jail.
She also had a fifth baby thatwas taken away.
In the late 90s she met aformer addict named Martin.
He worked as a schoolmaintenance man.
She eventually moved in withhim, but he would not allow her
to stay if she used drugs.
Diane went through a 12-stepprogram and attended church.
(47:23):
In 2001, she and Martin werepulled over on a traffic stop
and Diane was arrested for anearlier probation violation.
She spent six months in jail.
During that time she learnedthat she was pregnant with her
sixth child.
When she was released from jailshe stayed clean and went to
all of her prenatal appointments, she was determined to keep her
(47:45):
and Martin's daughter, whichthey planned to name Denise.
Baby Denise was born inNovember of 2001.
By this time, diane had beencleaned for 21 months.
Nevertheless, cuyahoga CountyDepartment of Children and
Family Services came and removedher baby from her care at just
four days old.
In order to get her daughterback, she agreed to go to
(48:08):
Miracle Village with herdaughter, which was a
residential drug treatmentprogram.
However, officials took BabyDenise in December of 2001,
stating that Diane didn'tproperly care for the baby.
They put the baby in fostercare.
Martin completed parentingclasses and obtained shared
custody of he and Diane'sdaughter.
(48:29):
He shares custody with Denise'sfoster mom.
Diane ended up leaving theprogram because she was
convinced they'd never give herher daughter back.
She didn't complete parentingclasses.
She soon relapsed and wasarrested in 2002 for drug
possession.
Diane and Martin broke up, butalways stayed in contact.
(48:50):
He was there for Diane if sheneeded something.
He last heard from her inSeptember of 2009.
No one had seen her for a fewweeks.
Then women's bodies were foundat the house on Imperial Avenue.
Her daughter, denise, thenseven years old, provided a DNA
sample to compare to the lastunidentified body at the
(49:12):
coroner's office On December 4,2009,.
It was confirmed that the 11thvictim of Anthony's soul was
Diane Turner.
Her decomposing body had beenfound lying on the floor in a
bathroom on the third floor ofAnthony's soul's house.
And that's it for part one ofthe Cleveland Strangler, but
(49:33):
don't worry, you won't have towait long for part two.
In part two, we'll talk aboutthe women that actually escaped
Anthony's soul and his house ofhell.
Their stories are incrediblyfrightening and give us a great
deal of insight into what his 11known murder victims must have
gone through before they werekilled.
(49:53):
We'll also discuss howAnthony's soul got caught, the
discovery of 11 bodies from hishouse on Imperial Avenue and
what ultimately happened toAnthony's soul.
Thank you so much for listeningto this episode of Tell Me a
True Crime Story.
Please follow or subscribe tothe podcast and tell your
(50:14):
friends, coworkers and familyabout it.
Share the podcast or share anepisode that you loved, and
please follow the podcast onsocial media.
Facebook, instagram and TikTokare at Tell Me a True Crime
Story.
Please write a review for thepodcast and or give it five
stars on Apple or Spotify.
(50:35):
That helps me out so very much.
This podcast is growing andit's thanks to all of you guys
out there who are spreading theword.
Thank you again for being here.
I truly, truly appreciate eachand every one of you.
Please join me in episode 32when I'll tell you another True
(50:55):
Crime Story.
Big hugs to all of you.
Bye-bye.
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