A new execution date could be set soon for death-row inmate Paul Warner Powell, whose most recent appeal was rejected yesterday by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Powell, 31, twice has been sentenced to death for the Jan. 29, 1999, murder of Stacie Lynn Reed, 16, in her Manassas-area home. After killing Stacie, he raped and cut the throat of her 14-year-old sister, Kristie, who survived.
Last July, a day before he was to die in the electric chair, the justices halted the execution until they decided whether to hear his appeal. His petition was denied yesterday without comment.
"Praise God," the Reeds' mother, Lorraine Reed Whoberry, wrote in an e-mail when she learned of the court's decision.
Whoberry, who lives in Ohio, has said she has forgiven Powell but also believes the sentence should be carried out.
It is not known when a new execution date will be set.
