Juror confesses love for murderer Forewoman

MANASSAS, A judge on Thursday affirmed a jury's verdict and imposed a death sentence on Paul Warner Powell, the man who killed a Yorkshire teen and raped her sister, following testimony from the jury forewoman that she regretted her verdict and is in a close relationship with Powell.
Powell, 22, was convicted of capital murder in May for the brutal stabbing death of Stacie Reed, 16, and the stabbing and sexual assault of Kristie Reed, who was 14 at the time and survived.
The jury recommended that Prince William Circuit Court Judge Herman A. Whisenant Jr. impose a death sentence, which the judge did Thursday.
"I'm glad that he was punished and he deserves what he got, " said Lorraine Reed Culver, the mother of the victims. "The death penalty is a very strong penalty but in this case I think it was appropriate because [the crime] was so brutal."
Thursday's hearing included testimony from one of the jurors who convicted Powell and recommended the death sentence, who now spends hours on the phone with him, has told him she loves him, and wants his life spared.
Daniel J. Morissette and Ronald W. Fahy, Powell's court-appointed defense attorneys, called Jennifer Melanie Day to the stand on Thursday.
Day, 30, was the forewoman on the jury.
Day testified that she misunderstood sentencing instructions and said she felt the law required her to sentence Powell to death. But when asked by the judge, she later said she had read an instruction stating that Powell could be sentenced to death or life without parole.
Whisenant said the instructions were clear, noted that Day on Thursday admitted seeing the instructions, and imposed the death sentence.
That pronouncement followed astounding testimony from Day under cross-examination from Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert.
The relationship made Day a biased witness, Ebert said.
"It's pretty clear that I think she fell in love with him and he definitely fell in love with her, " Ebert said after the hearing. "I've never had a case like this before but there are instances of it."
It all began after the verdicts, Day said during testimony that lasted more than an hour. She began feeling guilty and felt remorse for asking for the death sentence.
Day said she felt emotionally involved with Powell "before I knew him."
During the sentencing phase of his trial, Powell told his attorneys not to present any evidence on his behalf. Day said that bothered her, she thought the attorneys just hadn't done a good job.
So she wrote Powell a letter at the Prince William-Manassas regional jail.
Day, with long brown hair and wearing a green jacket and tan skirt, said she has sent Powell $70 at his request and talked to him about the possibility of visiting him in prison.
On July 5, Powell wrote Day a letter that began, "Hey beautiful."
Powell wrote: "I think you are right when you say we are soul mates. É I can't believe someone as beautiful as you and as smart as you has fallen in love with me as you have."
Day, whose religion is Wicca, said she sent Powell information about her religion and sent pictures of her pets.
Day is a legal secretary at a law firm. She said she told Powell her husband was upset that Powell was diverting her attention from him.
She said she has told Powell she loves him. She sent him anti-death penalty articles she printed off the Internet "to make him have hope that he may not have to die."
She told Powell she would try to help him avoid the death penalty.
Day testified that she last spoke with Powell on Wednesday, for an hour on the telephone. She said she plans to continue her relationship with Powell but did not plan physical contact.
"It's a very unique situation, " she told Ebert during her testimony.
"It sure is, " Ebert replied.
Powell, sporting a goatee, his ankles shackled, remained impassive during the hearing.
Lorraine Reed Culver put her head in her hands.
During Day's testimony, spectators shifted in their seats and glanced at each other. Reed Culver said she could hardly believe it.
"I still cannot believe that anybody could love a human being that does something like this, " Reed Culver said. "The information that she gave was just appalling to me."
Reed Culver said Powell has never expressed remorse.
"He has yet to look me in the eye, " she said. "I don't understand how he can sit there and look so blank."
Ebert became aware of Powell's relationship with Day because Powell's mail is monitored. Before his trial, Powell had sent a letter to a friend asking to have someone to threaten Kristie Reed into not testifying against him.
Powell attacked the girls Jan. 29, 1999, at their McLean Street home near Yorkshire. Powell, who is white, was a friend of Stacie, also white. He was angry that she had been dating a black teen, according to evidence.
Powell stabbed Stacie, a student at Osbourn Park High School, then waited in the home until Kristie returned from school. He raped her in the basement, then slashed her abdomen and neck with a knife. Her step-father found the girls and called 911.
Jurors convicted Powell of capital murder for committing rape during the commission of murder.
In asking for Whisenant to discard the jury verdict and give Powell life in prison, Morissette said Powell was diagnosed with psychological problems at a young age and was abused by his father.
But Ebert said Powell had been given many second chances by the juvenile justice system.
Ebert reminded the judge that Powell said he had plans to kill the girls' mother and step-father and noted that he has shown no remorse.
Ebert read from Kristie Reed's victim impact statement.
"I'll never get to see my sister again. I'll never get to see my sister graduate from high school, " Kristie wrote. "I'll never see her get married, have children."
Ebert said after the hearing: "This case is an extremely vile case. The death penalty is not for everybody. It's reserved for the vile of the vile."
Morissette said the death sentence will be appealed.
Reed Culver will follow the appeals process and attend future hearings. If the appeals are unsuccessful she'll witness his execution.
"I'll be there if it should happen, " she said. "I'll be there."