Milwaukee police have arrested a man in connection with the slayings of nine women dating back to Ellis, of Milwaukee, was arrested Saturday. Prosecutors said he faces two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and that more charges are expected. Investigators believe eight were prostitutes and one was a runaway. The women ranged in age from 16 to Sources familiar with the investigation said Ellis was arrested at noon Saturday at a hotel in suburban Franklin.
A witness confirmed a large number of officers descended on the hotel. Ellis was booked on a temporary felony warrant and was being questioned by detectives in the Milwaukee police Prisoner Processing Section, the sources said.
Police officials said the runaway was 16 years old and that her throat was slashed. The other victims, all prostitutes and African-American, were strangled. Court records show Ellis once lived close to the area where many of the homicides occurred.
Ellis was criminally charged 12 times between and for violent and property crimes, according to online court records. He was sentenced to five years in prison for recklessly endangering safety, according to court records. Further details of that case were not available. Online records also show Ellis was released from federal prison in December Authorities announced in May that they had discovered a serial killer was murdering prostitutes in Milwaukee over two decades and typically was dumping their bodies in vacant houses.
A task force of local, state and federal law enforcement was convened and in three months it received tips, Flynn said last month. Some suspects were interviewed and ruled out, he said. By The Associated Press ap dfmdev. More in News.
