Child rapist/murderer to be executed tonight

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In January, the Supreme Court refused to hear the appeal of VA death row inmate Paul Warner Powell, 31, which allowed the state to set another date for his execution. Powell was actually sentenced to death as a result of a letter he wrote to Prince William County Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert, in which he bragged about his horrific crime.

Powell was convicted of the 1999 murder of Stacie Reed and the rape of her 14-year-old sister in Manassas, VA.

Powell wrote to a friend: “I get to ride the lightning.”

Not long after his conviction, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned the verdict, claiming that the prosecution failed to prove that Powell had committed death penalty-eligible offenses, prior to killing Reed. Such offenses include rape and robbery.

The court however, upheld Powell’s convictions for the rape and attempted murder of Stacie Reed's younger sister.

As Powell sat in his prison cell in 2001, thinking he was free from further prosecution for the murder of Stacie Reed, he wrote a profanity-laced, taunting letter to Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert. The letter revealed previously unknown details of the crime.

Powell wrote: “Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all ... are.”

Powell said he went to the Reed home to confront her about her current boyfriend. He forced Stacie to the floor and tried to rape her. He said that when she tried to resist, he stabbed her in the chest and finished her off by stomping on her throat.

Powell continued: “I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha! Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid ... and saving me?”

Powell also admitted that after he killed Stacie, he hid in the house waiting for her little sister, upon her return from school he viciously attacked her and thought that she would soon die.

In light of this admission from Powell, he was not only charged again with the murder of Stacie Reed, but with her attempted rape as well, which made him eligible for the death penalty. He was subsequently convicted and sentenced to death.

Last July, Powell was granted a stay by the Supreme Court while they deliberated whether or not to hear his appeal.

Following the Supreme Court’s decision, Ebert said: “I'm hopeful this is the last legal chapter in the long history of this case. The survivors -- Stacie's mother and [her sister] -- have really been traumatized by delay after delay. Hopefully they're going to get some peace and closure after all these years.”

In an email to the Richmond Times-Dispatch, Stacie’s mom, Lorraine Reed Whoberry said simply “Praise God,” when told of the court’s decision.

Both Ebert and Whoberry plan to attend Powell’s execution tonight.

The execution will be Virginia's 106th since the 1976 U.S. Supreme Court decision allowing the resumption of the death penalty. Only Texas has carried out more executions with 451.

 

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