Date of Birth:  April 13, 1978

Sex: Male

Race: White

Entered the Row: September 15, 2000 

District: Prince William County

Conviction: Capital murder

Virginia DOC Inmate Number: 285713

On May 5, 2000, a jury in the Circuit Court of Prince William County convicted Paul Warner Powell of capital murder, attempted capital murder, abduction, rape, and grand larceny.  Powell was 20-years old when he committed the crimes.
 
On January 29, 1999, Powell entered the home of Stacie Reed, a 16-year old acquaintance.  Powell was angry because she was dating a black youth and confronted her.  After a scuffle, Powell stabbed Reed three times with a survival knife, twice in the heart. Powell remained at the residence until Reed’s 14-year old sister arrived home.  Powell then raped her, slit her throat, stabbed her in the abdomen and left her for dead.  Reed’s sister survived and later testified against Powell.

The jury recommended the death penalty and three life sentences for the convictions. Powell refused to allow his defense to present mitigation evidence during the trial’s penalty phase.[i]
 
Prince William Circuit Judge Herman Whisenant upheld the jury’s recommendation and sentenced Powell to die.  Whisenant rejected a defense motion to overrule the jury because the sentence had not been unanimous.  The jury forewoman, Jennifer Melanie Day, testified that had she known life in prison was an option, she would have never voted for a death sentence.  In 2001, the Virginia Supreme Court reversed Powell’s death sentence, saying that prosecutors had failed to prove that Powell had raped Reed, part of the reason for defining the murder as a capital case.

In October of 2001, Powell wrote letters to Prince William County Commonwealth Attorney Paul Ebert and the victim’s family detailing his crimes.  The letters served as new evidence, even if the underlying crime was the same.  Powell was retried in 2003 that Powell be sentenced to death.  The sentence was upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court in January 2004. 

Powell has been on death row since September 15, 2000.

[i] The Richmond-Times Dispatch.  June 5, 2000. A1.