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In January 1999, Robert Culver and his fiancée, Lorraine Reed, lived together in a small brick home on McLean Street in Manassas, Virginia, with Reed's two daughters, Stacey Lynn Reed and Kristie Erin Reed. On January 29, 1999, Paul Warner Powell, then 20, went to visit the Reeds' home. Powell was carrying two knives and a 9 mm handgun.
Stacey, then 16 years old, left home to go to work, and Powell remained there alone with Kristie, who was 14. That afternoon, Kristie called her mother by telephone and informed her that Powell refused to leave the home. Kristie's mother told Kristie to order Powell to leave. Kristie was concerned because Powell "kept walking back and forth down the hallway looking in the rooms." On the afternoon of January 29, 1999, Kristie arrived home from school and was startled to find Powell in her house. She asked Powell "where Stacey was." He replied, "she was in her room."
Kristie walked to Stacey's room, but Stacey was not there. Then, Kristie turned to enter her own room and saw Stacey's body lying on the floor. Powell, who had followed Kristie to the bedroom, ordered Kristie to go downstairs to the basement. Kristie knew that Powell customarily armed himself with a knife. She had previously observed Powell with a butterfly knife and "another long knife that was in a brown pouch type thing."
Powell forced Kristie to accompany him to the basement, where he ordered her to remove her clothes. She took her clothes off because she "didn't want to die." Powell told Kristie to lay on the floor, and then he raped her. After Powell raped Kristie, he dressed himself, and he used shoelaces taken from Kristie's shoes to tie her feet together. He also used shoelaces to tie her arms behind her back. Someone knocked on the door to the house, and Powell went upstairs, leaving Kristie naked and bound on the basement floor. While Powell was upstairs, Kristie was able to free her hands, and she tried to "scoot" across the floor and hide beneath the basement steps. Powell returned to the basement, removed Kristie's eyeglasses, and strangled her until she was unconscious.
Powell stabbed Kristie in the stomach, and the knife stopped within a centimeter of her aorta. He slashed her in her neck numerous times, and the repair of the knife wounds required 61 sutures. She had multiple stab wounds to her neck and abdomen. She also had wounds on her wrists. Robert Culver arrived at the home at 4:15 p.m. on January 29, 1999. He could not locate Kristie or Stacey. He went to the girls' bedrooms and saw that Stacey's room was in disarray. He entered Kristie's room, turned on the lights, and found Stacey's body on the floor. He observed blood on her body and saw that she was not breathing.
When Culver went to the basement in search of a telephone, he discovered Kristie lying naked and bound on the floor, bleeding from her neck and stomach. He saw that she had been stabbed in the stomach and her "throat was slit pretty severely, many times." Culver found a telephone, dialed 911, and spoke to emergency response personnel.
In a recent interview, Robert Culver said the worst part for him are the regrets of that day. He says he had a cold and that his boss told him he could leave early on that day. He almost took him up on the offer, but didn't want the girls to think he came home early because he didn't trust them to be alone. "Little things like that," he said. "I should have been home."
Although Kristie was experiencing life-threatening injuries, she was able to tell police officers and paramedics that Paul Powell was her assailant. Stacey's death was caused by a stab wound to her chest. The wound pattern indicated that the blade of the knife pierced her heart and was twisted upon withdrawal. The blade of Powell's knife was consistent with the stab wounds. There were numerous bruises on Stacey's head, neck, chest, abdomen, back, arms, and legs. She suffered stab wounds in her back and arm. She also had abrasions on her left hand and wrist that were characterized as defensive wounds.
Stacey's body contained bruises on her lower neck that were consistent with someone stepping or stomping on her face and neck. Police officers arrested Powell on January 30, 1999 at the home of a friend. The police officers also located a blue sports bag that belonged to Powell. A nine-millimeter semiautomatic pistol with a full magazine containing 10 Winchester nine- millimeter cartridges was in the bag.
The bag also contained a survival knife with a five and one-half inch blade inside a black sheath and a butterfly knife with a five inch blade. The survival knife sheath contained a dark reddish-brown stain. The DNA profile obtained from the stain on the sheath was consistent with the DNA profile of Stacey Reed and different from the DNA profile of Kristie Reed and Paul Powell. The probability of selecting an unrelated individual with a matching DNA profile is approximately one in 1.1 billion in the Caucasian population. After his arrest, Powell consented to several interviews with police officers.
During one interview, he stated that he had been at the Reeds' home on January 29, 1999 and that Stacey was dead because "she was stupid." Powell told the police officers that he and Stacey had an argument because she had a black boyfriend, and Powell "didn't agree with interracial dating." Powell claimed that during the argument, Stacey attacked him and scratched his face, and then he pushed her to the floor.
He claimed that Stacey attacked him again, and that she "got stuck" on his knife. Powell also initially denied raping Kristie. In a second statement to police officers, Powell admitted that he raped Kristie. The detective who interviewed Powell testified that Powell stated that he had to kill Kristie because "she was the only witness and he would have to go to jail." Powell was sentenced to death in August, 2000.
In 2001, the Virginia Supreme Court overturned his death sentence, saying that prosecutors had failed to prove that Powell had raped Stacey which was part of the reason for defining the case as a capital murder. Under the erroneous assumption that this meant he could no longer face the death penalty, Powell wrote two letters to the Commonwealth's Attorney of Prince William County, Paul Ebert. Below is the content of a letter that Powell wrote, dated October 21, 2001.
"Mr. Ebert, Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999, to show you how stupid all of y'all mother f*ckers are. Y'all should have known that there is more to the story than what I told by what I said. You had it in writing that I planned to kill the whole family. Since I planned to kill the whole family, why would I have fought with Stacie before killing her? She had no idea I was planning to kill everybody and talked and carried on like usual, so I could've stabbed her up at any time because she was unsuspecting. I had other plans for her before she died. You know I came back to the house after Bobby's lunch break was over and he had went back to work. When I got back, she was on the phone so I went inside and I laid down on the couch. When the cab came to bring me my pager, I ran out of the house and she jumped and got off the phone and came off the porch to see why I ran out of the house like I did. When the cab left we went in the house. I laid on the couch again and she went to her room and got her clothes and went downstairs to do her laundry. When she went downstairs, I got up and shut and locked the back door and went downstairs. We talked while she put her clothes in the wash. We continued talking when she had everything in the wash and I reached over and touched her ti+ and asked if she wanted to f*ck. She said no, because she had a boyfriend. I started arguing with her because she had never turned anybody down because of having a boyfriend. We started walking upstairs, arguing the whole time. When we got upstairs we went to her room and she turned the radio off. After she turned the radio off I pushed her onto her bed and grabbed her wrists and pinned her hands down by her head and sat on top of her. I told her that all I wanted to do was f*ck her and then I would leave and that we could do it the easy way or the hard way. She said she would f*ck me so I got up. After I got up, she got up and started fighting with me and clawed me face. We wrestled around a little and then I slammed her to the floor. When she hit the floor I sat on top of her and pinned her hands down again. She said she would f*ck me and I told her that if she tried fighting with me again, I would kill her. When I got up she stood up and kept asking me why I was doing this and all I kept saying is take your clothes off. Finally she undid her pants and pulled them down to her ankles. She was getting ready to take them the rest of the way off and the phone rang. When she heard the phone she pulled her pants back up and said she had to answer the phone. I pushed her back and said no. She said that she wouldn't say anything about me being there and I told her no and to take her clothes off. She tried to get out of the room again and I pushed her back and pulled out my knife. I guess she thought I was just trying to scare her and that I wouldn't really stab her because she tried to leave again. When she got to me and tried to squeeze between me and the door jam I stabbed her. When I stabbed her, she fell back against the door jam and just looked at me with a shocked look on her face. When I pulled the knife out she stumbled a couple steps and fell in her sister's room. I walked over and looked at her. 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 breath. 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. You know the rest of what happened after that point. I would like to thank you for saving my life. I know you're probably wondering how you saved my life, so I'll tell you. You saved my life by f*cking up. There were 2 main f*ck-ups you made that saved me. The first was the way you worded my capital murder indictment. The second was the comment you made in your closing argument when you said we won't know because he won't tell us. One more time, thank you! Now y'all know everything that happened in that house at 8023 McLean St. on Jan. 29, 1999. I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha! Sike! I knew what y'all would be able to prove in court, so I told you what you already knew. Stacey was dead and no one else was in the house so I knew ya'll would never know everything she went through unless she came back to life. Since the Supreme Court said I can't be charged with capital murder again, I can tell you what I just told you because I no longer have to worry about the death penalty. And y'all are supposed to be so goddamn smart. I can't believe that y'all thought I told you everything. Well, it's too late now. Nothing you can do about it now so f*ck you you fat, c*cksucking, c*m guzzling, gutter slu+. I guess I'll see your bi+ch a$$ on Dec. 18 at trial because I'm not pleading to shi+. Tell the family to be ready to testify and relive it all again because if I have to suffer for the next 50 or 60 years or however long then they can suffer the torment of reliving what happened for a couple of days. I'm gone. F*ck you and anyone like you or that associates with people like you. I almost forgot, f*ck your god, too. Jesus knows how to suck a d*ck real good. Did you teach him? Well, die a slow, painful, miserable death. See ya punk. Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid and for f*ckin' up and saving me? Sincerely, Paul Powell." In a statement to a police officer on November 2, 2001, Powell gave the following description of Stacey's murder: "She walked over to and uh I pushed her back. And then she walked over to me again I think and then I pulled my knife out and you know, and she looked at me you know. I guess she thought I wouldn't stab her or whatever. So she tried to leave and go to answer the phone. That's that. . . . . After she got stabbed, she just looked at me for a minute you know and then you know, she . . .she was surprised and them um, I pulled the knife out, you know she stumbled a few steps, fell down in Christy's doorway. I just walked over and looked at her. And I stepped over top of her and stepped on her throat and then stood on her throat and then stomped on her throat . . . then I stood on her throat until I didn't see her breathing no more. . . . .What I'm saying I was stepping on her. I'm saying I put all my weight on her. I'm saying that I put my foot there you know and then I lifted myself up to where I was standing on top of her. Started stomping on her throat. And then man, I just stood on her throat again until I didn't see her breathe no more."
Before he raped Kristie, Powell knew that he intended to kill her. In response to a police officer's question: "Before you raped Kristie, you knew you were going to kill her; didn't you?", Powell responded: "I really didn't have a choice; did I?" While incarcerated in jail awaiting his capital murder trial, Powell sent a letter to Lorraine Reed, the mother of Stacey and Kristie. Powell enclosed a photograph of a partially nude woman.
Powell wrote: "Lorraine, I was wondering if you might be able to help me think of something. I found this picture in a magazine and it kinda looks like someone I know or used to know, but I can't think of the persons name. I think you know the person too, so I was wondering if you could tell me the name of the person this picture resembles so I can quit racking my brain trying to think of it? I would appreciate it. If you don't know the person I'm talking about, ask Kristie or Kelly Welch because I know they know who I'm thinking of. If you talk to the person I'm talking about, please give her my address and tell her to write me." The partially nude woman shown in the photograph resembled Lorraine Reed's daughter, Stacey. Powell wrote a letter to a friend while he was incarcerated. He stated: "About when you asked me why I wouldn't do to you what I did to Stacie, I couldn't ever hurt you because you mean to much to me. See Stacie didn't mean anything to me. She was a ni**er lover and some of her wannabe skin head friends were supposed to kill me. That's part of the reason why she died. Almost everything that happened in that house was planned. The only thing that wasn't planned was trying to f*ck Kristie. What was supposed to happen was, Stacie was supposed to die, and did, Kristie was supposed to die and then I was going to wait for their mom and stepdad to get home and I was going to kill them and then I was going to take their moms truck and then I was gonna go to North Carolina and knock this dude off that stole all of my clothes and everything else I owned. I had been thinking about doing it for along time but I could never bring myself to do it. I don't know what happened to make me finally do it. I feel bad for doing it. Stacie was a good kid." Powell wrote, in another letter: "Hey babe, what's happening? Not too much here. I writing you to see if you could get one of your guy friends to do me a favor. You know that Kristie is telling the cops things and that she is going to testify against me in court. I was wondering if you could get somebody to go to a pay phone and call Kristie and tell her she better tell the cops that she lied to them and tell her she better not testify against me or she's gonna die." Powell sent the following letter to the Commonwealth's Attorney of Prince William County: "Fat Ebert, "What's up you fat head f*cker? I'm just writing to tell you, since you want to kill me so Goddamn bad for killing your ni**er loving whore, set up a court date closer than Oct. 25 so I can go ahead and get this bullshi+ over with and plead guilty so you can kill me and get it over with, unless you want to let me out so I can kill the rest of the ni**er lovers and all the ni**ers, Jews, Sp*cs and everybody else in this f*cked up country that's not white. That includes you because you are a ni**er loving Jewish f*cking fa**ot. I will see you in hell bi+ch. your buddy, Paul Powell - P.S. Watch your back!"
The jury viewed writings and drawings taken from Powell's jail cell that demonstrated his hatred of people who were not Caucasian. Additionally, the jury heard evidence that Powell told police officers that he was a racist and described his violent racial views. He stated, "everybody that ain't white shouldn't – he needs to die." Powell had told a police officer that he wanted to purchase a gun to "kill somebody.
Kill a lot of somebodies . . . just for something to do." The jury was aware of Powell's criminal record, including three convictions for contributing to the delinquency of a minor, two larceny convictions, and three felony convictions for abduction, rape, and attempted capital murder of Kristie. In supporting the jury's finding that Powell's conduct was "outrageously or wantonly vile, horrible or inhuman in that it involved . . . depravity of mind and. . . aggravated battery to the victim beyond the minimum necessary to accomplish the act of murder, the criminal appeals court in Virginia commented, "The day before Powell committed these gruesome crimes, he went to the victims' home and surveyed the interior of the house. He returned the next day and tried to rape Stacey, who struggled with him. He stabbed her in the heart, twisted the knife, and reinserted the knife in her heart. He stomped upon her throat and he placed the entire weight of his body on her throat until she died.
Next, he drank a glass of iced tea, smoked a cigarette, and waited for Stacey's younger 14-year-old sister to return home. When Kristie arrived, Powell directed her to her sister's body, forced her downstairs into the basement, and raped her on the floor. He then tied her hands and feet while she was naked, choked her until she was unconscious, stabbed her in the stomach, and slashed her neck numerous times in an attempt to kill her." After the vicious attacks, Powell had snuck out the back door, leaving Kristie for dead. He drove with a friend to Washington and bought some drugs, then returned to the friend's girlfriend's house where the drank beer and ordered a pizza. They were still waiting for it to be delivered when police knocked on the door. Powell did not know his younger victim had survived and identified her attacker. There are still appeals pending in this case and the execution is not expected to take place on this date. |
Virginia's Death Row
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 22 years of age when he committed the crimes.
On January 29, 1999, Powell entered the home of a sixteen-year-old acquaintance, Stacie Reed . Powell confronted her and became angry because she had a black boyfriend. After a small scuffle, Powell stabbed her three times, twice in the heart, with a survival knife. Powell remained at the residence until Reed’s fourteen-year-old sister arrived home. Powell raped her, slit her throat and stabbed her in the abdomen. Reed’s sister survived to testify against Powell. The jury recommended a sentence of death and three life sentences for the convictions.
Prince William Circuit Judge Herman Whisenant imposed the death penalty for Powell in August, 2000. Whisenant rejected a defense motion to overrule the jury recommendation because the sentence was not unanimous. 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, and Powell was retried in 2003. Powell was again convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. His sentence was upheld by the Virginia Supreme Court in January 2004.
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Robert J. Culver still lives in the Manassas home where it happened, still goes about life within the same walls where Paul Warner Powell attacked two teenage sisters, killing one, raping the other.
And so it is understandable if Culver, 45, has a hard time accepting closure.
"You always have the ifs, the ifs, the ifs. What if that day . . . what could I have done?" he said. "There is no closure for the people actually involved."
This week, more than seven years after Culver came home to find Stacie Reed, 16, fatally stabbed through the heart and her sister, Kristie Reed, then 14, raped and repeatedly sliced across the throat, a date was set for Powell's execution. Prince William County Circuit Judge Lon E. Farris decided Powell will die Feb. 15.
But for those close to the case, the decision seems as much about opening wounds as closing them.
Culver said that he has tried to avoid developments in the case and that he and the girls' mother, whom he dated and then married, are now estranged. Still, he talks about that day in vivid detail with anger-tinged words.
"Put me in a room with him and one of us will walk away," he said. "If they let me go in the room with him before the execution . . . "
After the 1999 incident, Powell was twice convicted of capital murder by jurors in Prince William. The first conviction was overturned by the Virginia Supreme Court, which determined that it was not a capital case because there was no evidence that Powell had committed or attempted to commit any sexual assault against Stacie Reed before he killed her. A murder is considered a capital offense with a maximum penalty of death if it includes any of a number of factors, including a concurrent rape.
Powell would have faced a lighter charge and sentence, but his next move helped convict him the second time.
After the high court ruling, Powell sent a profanity-filled letter to Prince William Commonwealth's Attorney Paul B. Ebert in which he bragged about concealing parts of his crime, including how he tried to rape Stacie Reed and killed her after she resisted.
"Since I have already been indicted on first degree murder and the Va. Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on Jan. 29, 1999 to show you how stupid all of y'all . . . are," he wrote.
He detailed how he told Stacie she could "do it the easy way or the hard way," and how she continued to resist him. He then stabbed her and stomped on her neck until she stopped breathing.
"I guess I forgot to mention these events when I was being questioned. Ha Ha!" continues the letter. It ends: "Do you just hate yourself for being so stupid and for [messing] up and saving me?"
The letter was used to support a conviction in 2003, and this time the Virginia Supreme Court upheld it.
After the execution date was set last week, Ebert spoke about how Powell's case had affected him personally.
"It was a real heinous crime," he said, adding that he developed a close relationship with the family. "I have daughters myself and I could relate to the anguish that the mom was feeling."
Although Ebert is a leader among prosecutors in achieving death sentences for murder defendants, he said he has never witnessed an execution. Ebert said he might attend this one.
"I've never gone to one, but I might," he said.
Culver said the worst part for him are the regrets of that day.
He remembered how he had a cold and how his boss told him he could leave early, he said. He almost took him up on the offer, he said, but didn't want the girls to think he came home early because he didn't trust them to be alone.
"Little things like that," he said. "I should have been home."
He has remained in the house partly out of stubbornness, he said. The home had been part the family's dream, a step up from the trailer where they had lived, he said. After the attack, he and the girls' mother, Lorraine Reed, considered moving but decided against it.
"We weren't going to let this ruin our dreams. This was our house," he said.
And so he stays and says has no plans of leaving, even though there are days he comes home and says something feels amiss.
"It's just boom," he said. "It's a memory that will never leave me."
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