Denied: Judge denies motion for Sowell trial to be moved out of - WFSB 3 Connecticut

Lawyers for accused serial killer Anthony Sowell asked for his trial to be moved out of Cleveland Tuesday afternoon, but a judge has denied their request.

His attorneys have argued this before, but they filed a new motion because Cuyahoga County Prosecutors announced a hearing last week that Sowell DNA connects him to another rape.  They believe he won't be able to get a fair trial.

The judge also denied a motion to have the trial delayed.

Meantime, 19 Action News is learning more about how the state lost the DNA of the accused serial killer.

We're taking a closer look at how a cotton swab or some other DNA sample just disappeared. A sample from a convicted rapist who's now accused of a killing spree.

A breakdown in the system may have helped Anthony Sowell avoid the cops.

Sowell is charged with killing 11 women in his home in Cleveland and sexually assaulting several others too.

 Sowell went to prison in 1989 for a rape and the state prison system says it took his DNA in the mid 90's for a database.

The Attorney General's office says Sowell's sample was sent to a lab but it never came back and now no one knows what happened to that prison sample.

That's why this is critical. The DNA database can be cross checked with evidence from other cases and if there's a match, it I.D's a suspect.

If Sowell's DNA had been on file, who knows how much earlier he'd have been caught before the bodies were discovered.

19 Action News of course wondered how many other samples were lost. But late Tuesday the Attorney General's office told 19 Action News they do not know of any other DNA sample's that was lost. 

This news comes as Cleveland Heights Police do an internal investigation into the possible mishandling of some of their DNA Evidence.

 Copyright 2011 WOIO. All rights reserved.