Paul Warner Powell was born on April 13, 1978, in Fairfax, Virginia. He grew up in a suburb of Washington, D.C.

On January 29, 1999, in Manassas, Virginia, Paul Warner Powell killed 16-year-old Stacie Reed. He first attempted to assault her sexually after he learned that Stacie's boyfriend was black. After Stacie fought him off, Powell stabbed her in the chest, which caused fatal injuries.

After killing Stacie, Powell waited for Kristie, Stacie's 14-year-old sister, to return home from school. When Kristie arrived, Powell forced her to go to the basement, where he assaulted her. He left to answer the front door and tied Kristie up. While he was gone, Kristie managed to untie herself but was unable to escape. Powell returned, strangled her until she lost consciousness, and then stabbed her multiple times. Kristie suffered severe injuries but ultimately survived.

Powell was arrested and initially convicted of capital murder. His conviction was overturned on appeal when the Virginia Supreme Court found not enough evidence to support the capital murder charge. However, he was sentenced to three life sentences for the rape of Kristie. Believing he could not be retried for the murder of Stacie because of double jeopardy laws, Powell wrote letters bragging about his crimes.

These letters, which included admissions of guilt, led to him being indicted again for the murder of Stacie Reed. He was ultimately found guilty and sentenced to death. Powell chose to die by electrocution instead of lethal injection. He was executed on March 18, 2010.