Paul Warner Powell
Paul Warner Powell, 31, was executed in Virginia's electric chair at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt on March 18, 2010, and was pronounced dead at 9:09 p.m., according to the Virginia Department of Corrections. He spent his final hours with his immediate family and attorneys, and his attorney, John Sheldon, said Powell had become remorseful in the hours and days before his death. Powell had asked to die by means other than the state's usual lethal injection, and he argued double jeopardy, but the courts rejected his broader constitutional claims, and Governor Bob McDonnell denied clemency. Members of the victim's family and the prosecutor witnessed the execution.
Cause of death, as reported: Executed by the state. Powell chose the electric chair over lethal injection, and his attorney said he had become remorseful in the days before his death.
Reported by: Virginia Department of Corrections (the agency that held him); news reports.