Jury to decide life or death for killer of four

Kim Smith

Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2000 | 11:17 a.m.

Quadruple murderer Richard Powell's fate is now in the hands of the jury that has been hearing his case for the past six weeks.

Attorneys were scheduled to begin closing arguments before noon today and jurors were to begin deliberations after lunch.

The jury must decide whether Powell, 37, should join his accomplice on death row for the May 1992 deaths of Samantha Scotti, 24, Lisa Boyer, 26, Jermaine Woods, 19, and Stephen Walker, 18.

Prosecutors believe the four people died because Powell wanted vengeance against Scotti, a police informant whose information led to his arrest on drug charges in December 1990.

A 4-year-old eyewitness told police that a man she knew as "Little Ray" and a man with "scary eyes" came in to her apartment and shot Woods and Walker once in the head and fired multiple shots at Scotti as she showered. She did not witness Boyer's death.

Vernell "Little Ray" Evans Jr. was convicted and sent to Nevada's death row in 1994. However, even though the little girl identified Powell as "scary eyes" at his drug trial in 1994, police didn't have enough evidence to indict him until 1998.

Prosecutors Mel Harmon and L.J. O'Neale intend to argue Powell deserves the death sentence because the murders were committed during a burglary, there was a great risk of death to more than one person and the murders were committed to avoid arrest. They also contend Scotti's death involved torture because she suffered eight gunshot wounds, one of which blew away the fingers of one hand.

Defense attorneys Lee McMahon and Bret Whipple argued that Powell is no longer a threat to society and that his conviction on four counts of first-degree murder already guarantees that he will die in prison.

Their last witness Tuesday was James Esten, a former California Department of Corrections employee who testified about the stringent security measures Powell will have to face once he is sent to Ely State Prison.

Powell will only be allowed out of his cell one hour a day, and the sole window in his cell will measure 48-inches high and 4-inches wide -- too small to escape through, Esten testified.

Powell was never written up for disciplinary reasons while he served his federal drug sentence despite the fact he had much more freedom than he will have at Ely, Esten said.