Neighbours thought the stench of rotting corpses was a local sausage factory . 51-year-old murderer is appealing his death sentence . By . Associated Press . UPDATED: . 18:45 EST, 6 December 2011 . The home where a serial killer raped and murdered 11 women was knocked down today after the victims' families feared it was being turned into a sadistic shrine. The home of Anthony Sowell, 51, was razed just before dawn, a day after relatives of those who died were hand-delivered letters notifying them of the demolition in Cleveland, Ohio. Police had gone to Sowell's house in 2009 to investigate a rape claim when they found two bodies on the floor in a room next to his bedroom. They eventually discovered three more bodies and a skull in the house and five bodies buried in shallow graves in the back yard. Scroll down for video . House of horrors: A demolition crew began razing the home where 11 women were murdered and entombed by Anthony Sowell in Cleveland, Ohio . Good riddance: A demolition crew moved into clear the site as shouted 'Hallelujah' from across the street . Work commenced as several people stood across the street in Cleveland, Ohio chanting: 'Tear it down!' and 'Hallelujah!' Sowell, 52, has been sentenced to death . for the killings and is appealing his conviction. Prosecutors said he . lured women to his home by promising them alcohol or drugs. By late morning, the home was almost completely levelled. Razing the house will help the families move forward, said Frances Webb-Speed, the sister of victim Janice Webb. Mrs Webb-Speed told The Plain Dealer: 'A lot of the families still live in the neighborhood and it will be good for it to be gone. The place is an eyesore and some people have tried to use things from the home for personal gain.' Blasted: The house had been condemned by local authorities in September after relatives worried that it was becoming a gruesome tourist attraction . The murdered women began vanishing in 2007. Police . discovered ten bodies and a skull at Sowell's house in late 2009 after . officers went there on a woman's report that she had been raped at the . home. Neighbors blamed a stench from the . rotting bodies on an adjacent sausage factory, which spent $20,000 on . new plumbing fixtures and sewer lines to try to make the smell go away. Many of the women who turned up dead had been missing for weeks or months, and some had criminal records. At the trial of Sowell four months ago, . gruesome details emerged about the women's deaths from Dr Elizabeth Balraj, the former chief deputy . coroner for Cuyahoga County who autopsied five of the bodies. Stench: Police went to the home of Stowell to investigate claims of a rape and found a freshly dug grave in the basement . She testified the victims were strangled and bound with apparently random items, including shoe-strings, socks, a belt, a bag strap, a coaxial cable and a cell-phone charger cord. Dr Balraj also provided more details about the state of the victim's bodies found at Sowell's house, testifying those she examined were nude or nude from the waist down, some wrapped in blankets and plastic and bound at the hands and wrists. Face of evil: Anthony Sowell, 51, has been sentenced to death for the murder of 11 woman in Cleveland, Ohio . Banality of evil: Jurors in the trial of serial killer Anthony Sowell were brought to view his house including the kitchen . She testified that the plastic . bucket that held the skull of one victim Lasanda Long had 'no evidence of . decomposition' and that the bucket had 'non-human bite marks' around the . rim. It's unclear what will become of the . site. Some family members and city officials have suggested that a . monument or community garden could be created. Loss: Sandy Drain holds a picture of Gloria Walker who was identified as one of Anthony Sowell's victims . Behind closed doors: Bodies of two of the victims that Sowell murdered at his home were lying in the room next to where he slept . Lured: Sowell got the woman back to his house with the promise of drink and drugs before he raped and strangled them . Justice: Donnita Carmichaell, daughter of a victim, raised her arms in victory as after the jury recommended the death penalty for Sowell in August and the judge agreed . Creepy: A shoe and a teddy at the home where 11 women's bodies were found in Cleveland, Ohio . Dread: Relatives of the missing women Gloria Walker (left) and Janice Webb wait for news at the house of horrors in Cleveland only to discover the women had been murdered .
Neighbours thought the stench of rotting corpses was a local sausage factory .
51-year-old murderer is appealing his death sentence .
Neighbours thought the stench of rotting corpses was a local sausage factory . 51-year-old murderer is appealing his death sentence . By . Associated Press . UPDATED: . 18:45 EST, 6 December 2011 . The home where a serial killer raped and murdered 11 women was knocked down today after the victims' families feared it was being turned into a sadistic shrine. The home of Anthony Sowell, 51, was razed just before dawn, a day after relatives of those who died were hand-delivered letters notifying them of the demolition in Cleveland, Ohio. Police had gone to Sowell's house in 2009 to investigate a rape claim when they found two bodies on the floor in a room next to his bedroom. They eventually discovered three more bodies and a skull in the house and five bodies buried in shallow graves in the back yard. Scroll down for video . House of horrors: A demolition crew began razing the home where 11 women were murdered and entombed by Anthony Sowell in Cleveland, Ohio . Good riddance: A demolition crew moved into clear the site as shouted 'Hallelujah' from across the street . Work commenced as several people stood across the street in Cleveland, Ohio chanting: 'Tear it down!' and 'Hallelujah!' Sowell, 52, has been sentenced to death . for the killings and is appealing his conviction. Prosecutors said he . lured women to his home by promising them alcohol or drugs. By late morning, the home was almost completely levelled. Razing the house will help the families move forward, said Frances Webb-Speed, the sister of victim Janice Webb. Mrs Webb-Speed told The Plain Dealer: 'A lot of the families still live in the neighborhood and it will be good for it to be gone. The place is an eyesore and some people have tried to use things from the home for personal gain.' Blasted: The house had been condemned by local authorities in September after relatives worried that it was becoming a gruesome tourist attraction . The murdered women began vanishing in 2007. Police . discovered ten bodies and a skull at Sowell's house in late 2009 after . officers went there on a woman's report that she had been raped at the . home. Neighbors blamed a stench from the . rotting bodies on an adjacent sausage factory, which spent $20,000 on . new plumbing fixtures and sewer lines to try to make the smell go away. Many of the women who turned up dead had been missing for weeks or months, and some had criminal records. At the trial of Sowell four months ago, . gruesome details emerged about the women's deaths from Dr Elizabeth Balraj, the former chief deputy . coroner for Cuyahoga County who autopsied five of the bodies. Stench: Police went to the home of Stowell to investigate claims of a rape and found a freshly dug grave in the basement . She testified the victims were strangled and bound with apparently random items, including shoe-strings, socks, a belt, a bag strap, a coaxial cable and a cell-phone charger cord. Dr Balraj also provided more details about the state of the victim's bodies found at Sowell's house, testifying those she examined were nude or nude from the waist down, some wrapped in blankets and plastic and bound at the hands and wrists. Face of evil: Anthony Sowell, 51, has been sentenced to death for the murder of 11 woman in Cleveland, Ohio . Banality of evil: Jurors in the trial of serial killer Anthony Sowell were brought to view his house including the kitchen . She testified that the plastic . bucket that held the skull of one victim Lasanda Long had 'no evidence of . decomposition' and that the bucket had 'non-human bite marks' around the . rim. It's unclear what will become of the . site. Some family members and city officials have suggested that a . monument or community garden could be created. Loss: Sandy Drain holds a picture of Gloria Walker who was identified as one of Anthony Sowell's victims . Behind closed doors: Bodies of two of the victims that Sowell murdered at his home were lying in the room next to where he slept . Lured: Sowell got the woman back to his house with the promise of drink and drugs before he raped and strangled them . Justice: Donnita Carmichaell, daughter of a victim, raised her arms in victory as after the jury recommended the death penalty for Sowell in August and the judge agreed . Creepy: A shoe and a teddy at the home where 11 women's bodies were found in Cleveland, Ohio . Dread: Relatives of the missing women Gloria Walker (left) and Janice Webb wait for news at the house of horrors in Cleveland only to discover the women had been murdered .
Neighbours thought the stench of rotting corpses was a local sausage factory . 51-year-old murderer is appealing his death sentence . By .