Virginia to Execute Powell on Thursday

MANASSAS, Va. - Virginia is set to execute a man who killed a teen girl then bragged about it to prosecutors once he thought he could not face the death penalty.

Thirty-one-year-old Paul Warner Powell is scheduled to die at 9 p.m. at Greensville Correctional Center in Jarratt. He chose to die by electrocution rather than lethal injection.

Powell was convicted in 2000 and sentenced to death for fatally stabbing 16-year-old Stacie Reed of Manassas. He also raped and attempted to kill her 14-year-old sister.

The Virginia Supreme Court overturned that verdict, and Powell wrote a taunting letter to prosecutors detailing the crime. He was convicted again in 2003.

Gov. Bob McDonnell refused to stop the execution, and Powell's court challenges have been rejected.

Prince William County State'sAttorney and Victim's Mother Speak with FOX 5's Paul Wagner

Prince William County State's Attorney Paul Ebert has only witnessed one execution in his 42 years in office. That was the death sentence carried out against condemned serial sniper John Muhammad just last year.

On Thursday night, Ebert plans to repeat the drive to Jarratt, Virginia outside of Richmond to witness Paul Warner Powell's death in the Commonwealth's electric chair.

Powell, 31, was sentenced to die for the brutal murder of a Manassas teenager in January 1999. Stacie Reed was killed during an attempted rape inside her home. Three hours later, Powell repeatedly stabbed Reed's 14-year-old sister Kristie and left her for dead.

Now 25 and living in Texas, Kristie Reed and her mother Lorraine Whoberry will accompany Ebert to witness Powell's execution.

Whoberry and Ebert spoke to FOX 5 News on the eve of Virginia's latest execution. Watch Bob Barnard's report here by clicking on the video tab.