Paul Warner Powell

Paul Warner Powell (April 13, 1978 – March 18, 2010) was a convicted murderer, rapist and pedophile who was executed by the Commonwealth of Virginia via the state's electric chair.

Murder

On January 29, 1999, in Manassas, Virginia, then-20-years-old Paul Warner Powell killed his 16-year-old friend, Stacie Reed, because he was angry and envious upon learning she had a black boyfriend. He first attempted to rape her and stabbed her in the chest, puncturing her heart, when she fought off his advances. Powell then waited, while drinking iced tea and smoking, for Stacie's 14-year-old sister, Kristie Reed, to come home from school. When she did, Powell raped her, strangled her, stabbed her in the stomach, slashed her throat and left her for dead. After finding Stacie's body, the girls' stepfather paged the phone trying to call 911. He frantically searched the house for the phone, and subsequently found Kristie in the basement. Kristie survived the attack, albeit with scars on her neck, and was able to testify against Powell.^[1]

Trial

Powell was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death, but the verdict was thrown out on appeal by the Virginia Supreme Court when the court decided that there was insufficient evidence to prove that Powell attempted to rape Stacie and that there were no other aggravating factors that would warrant a death sentence: the fact Kristie had been raped couldn't serve as a basis for making Stacie's killing a capital murder. The conviction for the rape of Kristie Reed was upheld, and Powell was given three life sentences. Powell, believing that he no longer faced the death penalty because of double jeopardy, then wrote an abusive letter to the prosecutor and admitted that he attempted to rape Stacie and boasted about his crimes in detail,^[2] among several other taunting or threatening letters he sent to the victims' family.

Using the letter that Powell wrote, prosecutors indicted Powell again for the rape and murder of Stacie Reed. Powell was once again convicted, and he was sentenced to death.^[3]

Execution

Powell chose to be executed by the electric chair instead of lethal injection. He made no final statement.^[4] He was executed on March 18, 2010.

Trivia

Powell was nominated as an "At-Risk Survivor" by the Darwin Awards in 2003.^[5]

References