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CLEVELAND (AP) — A man accused of killing three women and hiding their bodies in garbage bags charmed his victims to get close to them but also harbored hatred for the women in his life, a prosecutor told jurors Wednesday.
Michael Madison could face the death penalty if he's convicted on murder charges.
Jurors began deciding his fate following closing arguments on Wednesday.
Madison, 38, was arrested in July 2013, shortly after the bodies were found near the East Cleveland apartment building where he lived.
The case began when a cable television worker reported a putrid smell coming from a garage shared by Madison at the apartment building. Inside, police found the decaying body of a woman wrapped in garbage bags that were sealed closed with tape. The next day, searchers found bodies in the basement of a vacant house and in the backyard of a home nearby.
Madison told police during an interrogation that he strangled two of the women during fits of rage.
Assistant Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Christopher Schroeder said Wednesday that Madison disregarded the lives of the three women he barely knew before he killed them, Cleveland.com reported (http://bit.ly/1rpPaoP ).
One of the victims, who was strangled, had bruises on her face and injuries on the back of her neck, Schroeder said.
"It's not like shooting a gun, or stabbing with a knife, it's not an instantaneous act," he said. "You have to hate someone to do that to them, and he hated all of these women."
The victims were 38-year-old Angela Deskins, 28-year-old Shetisha Sheeley and 18-year-old Shirellda Terry.
Madison's defense attorney didn't dispute that Madison killed the women. But he said Madison didn't plan the killings and that he was often confused and had a drinking problem.
"A spontaneous eruption of violence is not enough to constitute prior calculation and design" said attorney David Grant.
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