In June 1994, Matthew Eric Wrinkles’ wife Debbie and the couple’s two children, Lindsay and Seth, moved into the Evansville home of Tony and Chris Fulkerson, Debbie’s brother and sister-in-law. Wrinkles filed for divorce on June 30, 1994, and Debbie obtained a protective order that same day prohibiting Wrinkles from having any contact with her and the children. At a provisional divorce hearing on July 20, 1994, Debbie agreed to a rescission of the protective order, and Wrinkles and Debbie agreed that Debbie would retain custody of the children but Wrinkles would have reasonable visitation rights. Wrinkles and Debbie agreed to meet later that day at a local fast food restaurant so that Wrinkles could see his children, whom he had not seen in over a month. However, Debbie and the children never showed up. Wrinkles called his divorce attorney, who told him that although nothing could be done that night because the courts were closed, he would take care of it tomorrow. Wrinkles, still frustrated, called the Fulkerson home to speak with Debbie, but she was not there. When Debbie returned later that night, she called Wrinkles to set up a meeting for the next day, but there was no answer.  Around 2 a.m. on July 21, 1994, Wrinkles parked his truck a block away from the Fulkerson home, put on camouflage clothing, painted his face, and armed himself with a .357 magnum revolver and a knife. He then climbed over a fence into the Fulkersons’ backyard, cut the telephone wires, and kicked in the back door. Wrinkles first approached Tony in his bedroom, shooting him four times in the presence of his three-year-old son. Awakened by the gunshots, Debbie entered the bedroom hallway and saw that Wrinkles had shot her brother. Debbie, who had already grabbed her gun for protection, shot Wrinkles in the arm and then fell to the floor. Lindsay, also awakened by the gunshots, entered the bedroom hallway and, upon seeing her father about to shoot her mother, pleaded, “Dad, please don’t shoot Mom.” Wrinkles responded “shut up” and then shot Debbie in the chest. In the meantime, Chris ran out the front door. Wrinkles followed Chris onto the front porch and shot her in the face at close range. Subsequent autopsies revealed that Tony, Debbie, and Chris each died from gunshot wounds. Police apprehended Wrinkles later that morning in Warrick County. The State charged Wrinkles with three counts of murder that same day and filed a notice of its intent to seek the death penalty on July 28, 1994. The trial court appointed salaried, part-time public defenders Dennis Vowels and Michael Danks to represent Wrinkles. The trial was held on May 15-19, 1995. The defense theory at trial was that because of a combination of Debbie depriving Wrinkles of access to his children and his methamphetamine addiction, Wrinkles broke into the Fulkerson home to get his children and shot the victims only after Debbie shot him and the other victims pointed guns at him. The jury found him guilty as charged. The penalty phase was held on May 20, 1995, and the jury returned a recommendation of death. A month later, the trial court, finding that the multiple murder aggravator outweighed the mitigators, imposed the death penalty.

A jury convicted Michael P. DeLozier of two counts of first-degree murder for the Sept. 24, 1995, killings of Morgan, 54, and Orville Lewis Bullard, 60, at a campsite along the Glover River.  Steven Morgan and Orville Bullard were camping in a converted step-van on the bank of the Glover River in northern McCurtain County. About 600 yards from their campsite was the "Tate bus," a bus also converted for camping. DeLozier, Glenney Dale Madison, Nathaniel Brandon Madison, and others were staying at the bus. Sometime on Saturday, September 23, 1995, DeLozier, the Madison brothers and James Oliver happened upon the Morgan campsite. They engaged in conversation for a few minutes. While there, DeLozier spotted a generator he thought would bring about $700 if stolen. Once back at the Tate bus, DeLozier mentioned stealing the generator. Several of the group, including DeLozier, talked about killing Morgan and Bullard and stealing everything they had. That night, DeLozier, carrying a single shot shotgun, Glenny Madison, carrying a .22 caliber rifle, and Nathaniel Madison, set off for the Morgan site. Once there, according to Nathaniel Madison, DeLozier stepped into the camper and fired a single shot toward the rear with the shotgun. Then Glenny Madison stepped into the camper and fired a shot from the .22 rifle. The group then stood near Morgan's pickup where Glenny Madison fired several shots into the front of the camper. Nathaniel Madison shouted several times for the camper's occupants to come out, saying nothing would happen to them. After several minutes, Morgan stepped from the camper. Upon doing so, DeLozier shot him once in the chest with the shotgun. DeLozier and Glenny Madison approached Morgan, and DeLozier took the rifle from Glenny and fired it once into Morgan's face. The three loaded the generator and many other items from the campsite, some of which were taken from the camper, into Morgan's pickup and took the stolen items back to the Tate bus. On the final trip back to the Morgan camper, the trio encountered headlights coming from the Morgan camp site. All three bailed out from the pickup and left it sitting in the road. George Vance was driving the vehicle which frightened the trio. He drove up on the Morgan camper and observed Morgan lying on the ground with his pants in his hands. Upon seeing this he turned around and got out as fast as he could. On his way out he found that he was blocked by Morgan's abandoned pickup. He got out of his vehicle and moved Morgan's pickup to the side of the road. Morgan was found lying on his back outside the camper in front of the door. His body had been burned. Morgan's camper had been burned with the body of Bullard still lying in his bed. Morgan's pickup had also been burned. The corroborative evidence in this case was as follows: testimony that DeLozier admitted killing two men while he was threatening another inmate in the county jail; DeLozier's testimony that he left his camp site carrying the shotgun that was used in the murders; DeLozier's admission that he stole from the victim's campsite; and Vance's testimony that he observed Morgan lying on the ground outside the camper before meeting DeLozier and the others on the road, corroborating Nathaniel Madison's story that Morgan and Bullard were killed while all three were at the Morgan camp. Evidence revealed that DeLozier murdered two individuals. Both victims were together in a small camper. DeLozier stepped inside and fired a shotgun. Madison then stepped inside and fired a .22 rifle. Bullard was shot with a shotgun and a .22 rifle. Once back outside the camper, Madison fired several shots into the camper with the .22. Madison called for Morgan to come out of the camper after Bullard had been shot and told Morgan that nothing would happen to him. When Morgan stepped outside, he was shot and killed. DeLozier and the others went to the Morgan campsite with the intent to steal the generator and other property. DeLozier and the others had visited the Morgan campsite earlier, so they would be suspects in any theft. With Morgan and Bullard dead, there would be two less witnesses to point to DeLozier and the others as suspects. Furthermore, after killing Bullard, DeLozier could not leave Morgan to tell what had happened. With Morgan alive, a more timely search for the suspects would have been undertaken. These murders were undertaken in a cold-blooded manner. These two men were killed merely for their possessions, a generator and camping supplies. Even after this murder, DeLozier threatened to kill another inmate in the county jail. Prior to the murders, DeLozier killed a police dog and injured another. UPDATE: 32-year-old Michael P. DeLozier was executed for the Sept. 24, 1995, deaths of Orville Lewis Bullard and Paul Steven Morgan. Before the execution, DeLozier’s attorney released a statement in which DeLozier admitted killing the two men and apologized to the victims’ families. "I cannot wait to finish paying this debt I owe so I can apologize to the souls of Mr. Morgan and Mr. Bullard, and ask them to forgive me for my taking their lives,” DeLozier wrote. "To the families of my victims all I can say is I’m sorry for the pain I’ve caused you. I hope my death will bring you some peace.”

In November 1990, John Fautenberry, who had recently quit his job as a cross-country truck driver, met Donald Nutley at a truck stop outside Portland, Oregon, and the two men went target shooting together. After they had finished and were leaving the range, Fautenberry shot Nutley in the head and stole $10,000 from him. Fautenberry then drove to Cincinnati, Ohio, where he stayed with his sister for a short time before traveling to Connecticut to visit an old friend. In February 1991, while en route back to Cincinnati, Fautenberry — out of money and in need of gasoline to continue his travels — stopped at a truck stop in New Jersey. There he met Gary Farmer, who, after learning of Fautenberry’s need for money, offered to buy Fautenberry breakfast and give him money. Fautenberry got into the cab of Farmer’s truck, shot Farmer in the head, and took his wallet. Fautenberry then returned to his sister’s residence in Cincinnati. On February 17, 1991, after another brief stay in Cincinnati, Fautenberry again left his sister’s residence, this time on foot, in search of money. Fautenberry walked down Highway 125, in the eastern suburbs of Cincinnati, stopped at the on-ramp to Interstate 275, and began hitchhiking. Joseph Daron offered to give Fautenberry a ride. Daron intended to travel only ten miles north to his home in Milford, Ohio, but, upon learning that Fautenberry wanted to go north to Columbus, Ohio, he drove Fautenberry an extra ten miles and dropped him near the intersection of Interstate 275 and Interstate 71, which goes directly to Columbus. As he exited Daron’s vehicle, Fautenberry reached back into the car and shot Daron twice in the chest. Fautenberry then drove Daron’s car south to Cincinnati, and threw Daron’s body into a wooded area on the north bank of the Ohio River, where it was eventually found more than a month later by the local authorities. Fautenberry took Daron’s car, wallet, briefcase, wristwatch, and Bible, and returned to Oregon. Fautenberry arrived in Portland on February 24, 1991, and spent the next few days at the Oregon coast with some old friends and acquaintances, including a woman named Christine Guthrie. Guthrie accompanied Fautenberry back to Portland from the coast, and along the way, they stopped on an old logging road. Fautenberry escorted Guthrie to a secluded portion of the woods, shot her three times in the back of the head, and stole her bank card. A few days later, after withdrawing cash from her bank account, Fautenberry traveled to Juneau, Alaska, where he began working aboard a fishing boat. On March 13, 1991, Fautenberry met Jefferson Diffee at a local bar, and the two men went to Diffee’s apartment. While there, Fautenberry beat Diffee, handcuffed him, and stabbed him seventeen times, which resulted in his death. The local police discovered Fautenberry’s fingerprints at the scene of the crime, and on March 16, 1991, they arrested him for the murder of Diffee. The police then searched Fautenberry’s storage locker and hotel room, where they found Daron’s briefcase, wristwatch, and Bible. On March 17, 1991, while in police custody, Fautenberry called Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Agent Larry Ott and left a message indicating that he wanted to talk. Agent Ott went to the jail, informed Fautenberry of his Miranda rights (which Fautenberry subsequently waived), and recorded Fautenberry’s confession to the murders of Nutley, Farmer, Daron, and Guthrie. Fautenberry accurately described the wounds inflicted upon each victim, and indicated that robbery was the motive for each killing. A few days later, Fautenberry called his old girlfriend, Olivia Priest-Herndon, and told her that he was “only after . . . money” and that he “did it so he gotta pay the price now.” Fautenberry also confessed to Tom Nelson of the Portland Police Department, informing Nelson where the bodies of Nutley and Guthrie were located. In August 1991, Fautenberry pleaded guilty in an Alaskan state court to the murder of Jefferson Diffee, and the court sentenced him to 99 years’ imprisonment. In September 1991, the Alaskan authorities transferred Fautenberry to Hamilton County, Ohio, the county in which Cincinnati is located, where a grand jury had returned a five-count indictment charging Fautenberry with two counts of aggravated murder (both pertaining to the death of Daron), aggravated robbery, theft of a motor vehicle, and theft of a credit card. The aggravated murder charges included two specifications, either of which would render Fautenberry eligible for the death penalty under Ohio law: (1) killing Daron while committing aggravated robbery; and (2) killing Daron as part of a course of conduct involving the purposeful killing of two or more persons. Fautenberry waived his right to a trial by jury and later proffered a no-contest plea to all counts and specifications in the indictment. Under Ohio law, a capital defendant who waives his right to trial by jury and elects to be tried by the court, is actually tried by a three-judge panel. Furthermore, even on a no-contest plea, the prosecution must produce evidence to prove aggravated murder with the specified aggravating circumstances. The prosecution presented the three-judge panel with evidence, including the murder weapon, various other pieces of physical evidence, and transcripts of Fautenberry’s confessions to Agent Ott, Officer Nelson, and Ms. Priest-Herndon. After reviewing this evidence, the court concluded beyond a reasonable doubt that Fautenberry was guilty of all counts and specifications in the indictment, and accepted his plea. In September 1992, the three-judge panel held a sentencing hearing. The defense presented its mitigating evidence, which included testimony from Fautenberry, Dr. Nancy Schmidtgoessling, and friends who knew Fautenberry well. Those friends included Louise Corcoran (a long-time friend of Fautenberry’s family), Ms. Priest-Herndon (Fautenberry’s former girlfriend with whom he had lived), and Mary Theresa Slayback (a friend with whom Fautenberry lived during his early twenties). After hearing all of this evidence, as well as the testimony of the six law-enforcement officers presented during the mitigation hearing by the prosecution, the three-judge panel imposed the death penalty, finding that, despite the defense’s “thorough job in presenting the mitigating factors,” it was beyond a reasonable doubt that the aggravating factors sufficiently outweighed the mitigating factors. UPDATE: On July 8, 2009, Ohio governor Ted Strickland denied a clemency request from Fautenberry. Strickland said he thoroughly reviewed the case of 45-year-old John Fautenberry before making his decision. The Ohio Parole Board unanimously recommended last month that Strickland reject mercy for Fautenberry.  UPDATE: Fautenberry declined to make a final statement before he was executed. John Fautenberry, 45, shook his head Tuesday and said no when technicians asked him whether he wanted to say any final words. Joseph Daron's daughter Rachel, who was 4 when her father was murdered, attended the execution with her mother, but they remained in a waiting room and did not watch. The 22-year-old said she wished the execution had come sooner, but she did not expect to hear any last words from Fautenberry. "I knew he's not sorry," she said. "He didn't care. And even if he did, it's not going to bring my dad back or any of the other victims back." Fautenberry died by lethal injection at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility, hours after the U.S. Supreme Court denied a request to delay his execution on a claim that he had brain damage. Six people watched the execution on behalf of victims' families. Fautenberry had no family members or friends present. One of the witnesses was Charlene Farmer, the mother of Gary Farmer, a fellow trucker whom Fautenberry was convicted of killing. Afterward, she said she had traveled to Ohio from Tennessee for the execution with the hope that Fautenberry would finally apologize to her for killing her son. She said she believed Fautenberry died an easy death. "My son laid in the truck for they don't know how long with a bullet in his brain," she said.

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. A murder that is committed in conjunction with another felony is one of the requirements for a death sentence and the appeals court felt that the rape of Stacey's sister Kristie was a separate act. 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. UPDATE: The U.S. Supreme Court stayed the execution while it considers whether whether to hear his argument that he was unconstitutionally tried twice for the murder.