Victims’ mother will attend execution
{Family photo}
Kristie Reed today
Published: July 9, 2009
Updated: July 12, 2009
As the News & Messenger works to bring you the latest on the execution of convicted killed Paul Powell, a team of reporters and a photographer will report from the Greensville Correctional Facility in Jarratt, Va. starting Tuesday. Breaking news reporter Uriah A. Kiser will file video reports for our Web site and has also created a video blog about this event. Watch for them on insidenova.com and watch all of the blog entries in their entirety at youtube.com/whahooa.
It’s been 10 years since Paul Warner Powell killed Lorraine Reed Whoberry’s oldest daughter and nearly killed her youngest.
Next week, Whoberry will witness his execution. Her surviving daughter, Kristie Reed, will be there, too. And Prince William Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul Ebert will be by their side.
But, Whoberry said, her family has tried not to think much about Tuesday night, when Powell will be put to death in Virginia’s electric chair.
“It’s really hard to allow my mind to go there,” she said. “But we’ve managed to stay busy and not think about it a lot.”
In tomorrow’s News & Messenger, Whoberry talks about grieving and forgiveness in the years since 16-year-old Stacie Reed and her then-14-year-old sister, Kristie, were brutalized in their Yorkshire home.
The story is the first in a series the News & Messenger will undertake between now and Tuesday, chronicling what Whoberry calls “the last chapter” in her family’s long struggle to deal with what happened that day in Yorkshire.
The following stories will appear in Sunday’s News & Messenger:
—More from the Reed family on what the execution means to them.
—Overview of the January 1999 attacks that left the community reeling, along with comments from Powell’s lawyers on last-ditch efforts to save the killer’s life.
—Anatomy of an execution in Virginia
—Prince William County has more killers on death row than any other jurisdiction in Virginia. We take a look at past and current death row inmates.
—Look for a special report on our Web site at insidenova.com, including past stories, an interactive timeline of the case and links to court records in the case.
On Tuesday, execution day, we will have two reporters in Jarratt, Va., to cover the execution. Watch for updates at insidenova.com and in the News & Messenger.
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Reader Reactions
There are very few things in this world that truly rock me to my core. The story of what this miserable piece of trash did to the Reed family brought tears to my eyes the moment I read about it. I just want to commend Mrs. Reed and Kristie for being strong individuals. My heart truly goes out to the two of you and I hope that you have truly found peace once this is all over.
I hope they are stocked up on Depends and Febreeze. This one’s gonna be messy and stinky!
Should not it be respected what
the mother said she had to go
through to know what had happened?
Unless, been there and done that,
how can we say that the mother’s
mission is not needed?
My family has in a different type
matter.
Thus, thanks to her efforts to
educate many of appropriate notification of what has happened
to a family member.
Another death is not a matter to
be joked about either. How did this
person get through the school system?
It’s the PWC social event of the year!!!!
Mr. Ebert was very good to the family during this terrible time.
There are many accounts in the archives of this paper and the Washington Post. I feel certain his office and the police dept. acted both professionally and with sensitivity.
Hopefully when Powell is executed, this family will be able to have some closure.
Great comments:::; however im a firm believer that this is the best thing for the family—- however the mother or surviving daughter should be allowed to perform the death treatment to this scum bag—- ... you should and always be allowed to vent your fustrations in the death chamber—
Mother I commend you- cause once i found out he was sentenced to death- i would have begged to have it live at a local high school (field) and only invite the media and local sex offenders—and teach them all a damn lesson….. Powell you a sick man who is finally paying for your sins
I have this execution date marked on my calander. Paul Powell R.I.P. Rot in Pieces you dirtbag!
Looks like the newspaper and a lot of its readers/posters are dying of thirst and starvation for a killing. Perhaps it is a “hangover” for the days of lynching blacks and killing Indians, often in the name of the Lord. How gruesome!
The mother of the two girls is to be
commended for taking a positive lead
in bringing to attention of law
enforcement to be more aware of
the needs of family members during
a crime scene.
uhh thanks but no thanks for me. I watched my Dad kill a chicken once and I’ve been traumatized ever since. I could never be a witness to an execution. However, I’m happy others are not as squeemish because I do believe in that method of punishment.
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