Paul Warner Powell (April 13, 1978 – March 18, 2010 | age 31) was an American man convicted and executed for the murder of his friend Stacie Reed, 16, in 1999. He also raped, strangled, and stabbed the girl's sister Kristie, 14, who survived. Following the vacature of his capital murder conviction upon appeal, he wrote letters boasting about his crimes under the mistaken belief that he was exempt from punishment by the principle of double jeopardy. His letters were used as evidence against him in a second trial that resulted in his execution in 2010.i
… how stupid all of y’all motherfuckers are.
... fuck you, you fat, cocksucking, cum guzzling gutter slut.
i In cold blood. (Boast). (2023). Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=85882843 (Accessed: 9 March 2023).
P. Powell. Autographed Letter/Envelope Signed. Pmk: September 6, 2006. SEALED. Contents unknown. Pristine.
Summary
Powell described how he went to the home of 16 year old Stacie Reed because he was angry at her for having a black boyfriend. He attempted to rape her and then stabbed her in the heart when she fought off his advances.
Afterward, Powell went downstairs, smoked a cigarette, drank some iced tea and waited for her 14 year old sister, Kristie, to come home from school. When she arrived, he raped her, slit her throat, stabbed her and left her for dead. When police reached her, they asked who had done this to her. Kristie mouthed two words: "Paul Powell." Kristie survived and testified against Powell.
Powell's first capital murder conviction was thrown out on appeal when the court ruled that there was insufficient evidence to prove that he had attempted to rape Stacie. Believing he no longer could face a death sentence, he wrote the Prosecutor an abusive letter in which he admitted he attempted to rape Stacie and boasted about the crimes in horrific detail.i
In Cold Blood – Letter to Paul B. Ebert, commonwealth's attorney for Prince William County in Virginia:
“I saw that she was still breathing so I stepped over her body and into the bedroom. Then I put my foot on her throat and stepped up so she couldn't breathe. Then I stepped down and started stomping on her throat. Then I stepped back onto her throat and moved up and down putting more pressure to make it harder to breathe. When I didn't see her breathing anymore I left the room and got some iced tea and sat on the couch and smoked a cigarette.”
“ ... fuck you, you fat, cocksucking, cum guzzling gutter slut. I guess I'll see your bitch ass on Dec. 18 at trial because I'm not pleading to shit. Tell the family to be ready to testify and relive it all again because if I have to suffer for the next 50 or 80 years or however long then they can suffer the torment of reliving what happened for a couple of days. I'm gone. Fuck you and anyone like you or that associates with people like you. I almost forgot, fuck your god, too.” Jesus knows how to suck a dick real good. Did you teach him? Well, die a slow, painful, miserable death. See ya punk.”ii
Execution
Powell chose to be executed by the electric chair instead of lethal injection. (100 volts at 7.5 amps – about 13,5000 watts, or enough to power 135 100w light bulbs.) He made no final statement, however, the day before his death, he spoke to Reed's family by phone and acknowledged the crime "was a senseless and pointless thing" and said he was sorry. He was executed on March 18, 2010. Powell was the second-to-last person to die in Virginia's electric chair.iii
VIDEO: The Killer Who Wrote a Letter (PAUL WARNER POWELL) | https://youtu.be/F7_vCjN6PJQ
VIDEO: JURISPRUDENTIALLY CONFUSED - EXECUTION OF Paul Warner Powell | https://youtu.be/ySA9DHdCtY8
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i Blanco, J. (2023) Paul Warner Powell | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers, Murderpedia.org. Available at: https://murderpedia.org/male.P/p1/powell-paul-warner.htm (Accessed: 9 March 2023).
ii In cold blood. (Boast). (2023). Available at: https://www.thefreelibrary.com/_/print/PrintArticle.aspx?id=85882843 (Accessed: 9 March 2023).
iii Paul Warner Powell - Wikipedia (2023). Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Warner_Powell (Accessed: 9 March 2023).