Powell gets death sentence from jury

MANASSAS, A Prince William jury on Monday sentenced Paul Warner Powell to death, a verdict he apparently wanted and one that brought solace to the mother of his two victims.
After refusing to let his parents testify on his behalf during his capital murder trial, Powell told his attorneys not to give any closing argument Monday morning before jurors decided whether Powell should receive death or life in prison.
After four and a half hours of deliberation on Monday, jurors recommended that Powell receive the death penalty for the brutal Jan. 29, 1999, attack on two teen-age girls that evidence showed was motivated by race hatred.
"I'm just glad it's over, " said Lorraine Reed Culver, the mother of victims Kristie Reed, 15, and Stacie Reed, 16, who was killed. "I feel like justice has been served and I feel like he's going to get exactly what he has coming to him."
Powell's six-day trial in Prince William Circuit Court concluded with the jury's Monday verdicts. He will be sentenced Aug. 10 by Judge Herman A. Whisenant Jr.
who can uphold the jury's recommendation or sentence Powell to life in prison without parole.
Powell, 22, admitted fatally stabbing Stacie Reed and raping, stabbing and slashing the throat of her sister Kristie.
The girls' mother listened to gruesome testimony during the trial, where she learned that Powell later said he plotted to kill her and her husband.
The family expressed relief on Monday as they spoke with news reporters outside the Prince William County courthouse.
Prosecutors introduced evidence showing that after he was incarcerated, Powell wanted a friend of his to threaten Kristie Reed into not testifying.
"There was a lot of things I didn't know about, " Reed Culver said. "I can't imagine the hell my girls went through."
With red scars on her neck from where Powell slashed her throat, Kristie Reed testified against Powell one week ago. She's "doing very well, " her mother said. "She's a brave young lady."
The girls were assaulted in their home on McLean Street near the Yorkshire area.
Reed Culver said she contained anger she felt during the trial, where Powell sometimes appeared to have a smirk on his face.
As the verdicts were read, one juror cried and another wiped her eyes.
Powell showed no reaction.
He was escorted from the courtroom in handcuffs and will be held at the Prince William-Manassas regional jail until the judge imposes the sentence.
Powell's parents were present in the courtroom, but did not want to talk to reporters. Reed Culver said she prays for them and is sorry Powell "put them in this position."
Evidence in the trial from Powell's letters and statements to police showed he is a man filled with hate for racial minorities, Jews, "anyone who isn't white, " as he put it. He told police he expected to receive the death penalty and would prefer it to life in prison.
Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul Ebert said he's "never had a case where the defendant showed such a disregard for life, not just to the victim, but to anyone else.
"I don't take pleasure in these kinds of cases, " Ebert said. "This case was a just verdict."
In a stirring argument given before the jury deliberated, Ebert said there was "overwhelming" evidence sufficient for a death sentence.
"There probably could not be an imaginable case that would justify the death penalty more than the case that you folks have heard over the last week, " Ebert told jurors.
He reminded them that Powell threatened a jail guard. "Even if he's in prison, ladies and gentlemen, he has a mindset to get people, " Ebert said.
Powell, who is white, told police he was angry that Stacie, who was also white, was dating a black youth.
Powell had known Stacie several years and had spent some time at her house. Ebert said Powell befriended her and entered her home "almost like the devil himself."
Ebert read from a letter Powell wrote to him in which Powell threatened Ebert, called him derogatory names, and expressed desire to kill "anyone" not white. Powell wrote to Ebert: "I'll see you in hell" and "watch your back."
Daniel J. Morissette, a court-appointed attorney representing Powell, then surprised prosecutors when he told the judge he had no closing argument.
"Judge, could I just put something on the record, " Morissette said after the jury left to deliberate. "It was the defendant's decision not to present argument, after consultation with counsel."
Powell was convicted of capital murder for killing Stacie Reed and sexually assaulting Kristie Reed.
Virginia law was changed following a 1985 case to allow a capital murder conviction involving one person who was killed and another who was the victim of a violent crime during the same activity.
Since then, Ebert said he is not aware of any case in the state where a defendant was convicted of capital murder for attacks on two different victims.
Had Powell not been identified by Kristie Reed, who knew him through her sister, he would have killed more people, Ebert said.
By recommending the death sentence, the jury found that Powell's action was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery to the victim."
In addition to capital murder, the jury convicted Powell on Friday of attempted capital murder, rape, abduction and grand larceny.
They recommended Powell receive life in prison and a $100, 000 fine for attempted capital murder, life and a $100, 000 fine for abduction, life in prison for rape and two years in prison for grand larceny.
Virginia law will require Powell's capital murder conviction to be appealed.