Bio

Stephen Elliot Powers was born on May 15, 1969. He spent most of his life in Mississippi. He graduated from high school and even attended college. On June 14, 1998, he committed his first known violent crime, marking a significant turning point in his life. He was arrested the same day. Afterward, he was sentenced to death in 2000 for his crime.

Murder Story

On June 14, 1998, Stephen Elliot Powers was arrested for the murder of 27-year-old Beth Lafferty in Forrest County, Mississippi. The police discovered Lafferty's body in the hallway of her home after an afternoon cookout with Powers and others the day before. She had been shot five times in total, including three times in the back of her head.

After being identified as the last person seen with Lafferty, Powers was taken into custody. He initially told police that he had struggled with Lafferty over a gun and that it had gone off during the fight. He admitted to shooting her but denied any sexual interaction. However, forensic evidence indicated that there was a strong indication of attempted rape. This point was crucial to the state's case, which classified the murder as capital murder because it was linked with the commission of another crime.

Powers eventually wrote a confession which included admitting that he killed Lafferty and left her body in a compromising position. The medical examiner's report supported the findings that there was significant physical evidence related to an attempted rape, despite Powers' denials.

Powers was charged and, in the year 2000, was convicted of capital murder and sentenced to death. He appealed his conviction, arguing among other things that the evidence of attempted rape was not sufficient to support the capital murder charge. His arguments were rejected by the Mississippi Supreme Court, which upheld both his conviction and death sentence in 2003. Powers remained on death row during the subsequent years as his case went through legal reviews, including appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court. Despite his appeals, Powers continued to face the death penalty for his crime.