DNA left untested in case linked to Ohio killings

CLEVELAND – Police in Ohio say they failed to test evidence that might have connected a sexual assault case to a man on trial in 11 killings in Cleveland.

Officials in suburban Cleveland Heights say they discovered the evidence, a rape kit, almost two years after the 2009 assault accusation. Cleveland police asked for it this year in the investigation of 51-year-old Anthony Sowell (SOH'-wehl). Prosecutors say the evidence was a DNA match to Sowell.

The Plain Dealer reports that police confused the rape kit with urine and blood samples from the accuser. Cleveland Heights Law Director John Gibbon says officers don't know how it happened.

Sowell has not been charged in the Cleveland Heights case. He has pleaded not guilty in the Cleveland killings, and jury selection is under way.

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Information from: The Plain Dealer, http://www.cleveland.com