Trial in killings of four to start

Greg Tuttle

Thursday, Sept. 28, 2000 | 11:16 a.m.

Jury selection was set to begin today in the murder trial of a man accused of gunning down four people in front of a 4-year-old girl who later described him as "Scary Eyes."

Clark County prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Richard Edward Powell, who is charged in the April 30, 1992, quadruple killing inside a Las Vegas apartment.

Pretrial motions began Wednesday before District Judge Michael Douglas. Jury selection is expected to last through Friday, and opening statements are scheduled Monday.

Powell, 38, was charged in February 1998 with four counts of first-degree murder, about six years after four people were found shot to death inside an apartment at 532 Wardelle St.

Investigators described the incident as a revenge killing that was planned to take place while Metro Police were busy trying to contain rioting following the first verdict in the Rodney King police brutality case in Los Angeles.

Powell is the second man charged in the murders. Vernell Ray Evans was convicted on four counts of murder in 1994 and sentenced to death. He remains on death row after the Nevada Supreme Court rejected his 1998 appeal.

Prosecutors charged Powell when new information surfaced two years ago, including statements from fellow inmates who allegedly said Powell told them about his involvement in the 1992 killings.

Prosecutors say Powell and Evans killed 24-year-old Samantha Scotti in retaliation for the women's cooperation in a Metro Police drug investigation that netted three pounds of cocaine.

Also killed were Lisa Boyer, 26, Jermaine Woods and Stephen Walker, both 19. Investigators have said they believe Boyer, Woods and Walker were unfortunate visitors at Scotti's apartment when the killers arrived.

Also inside the apartment was a 4-year-old girl who later told investigators she witnessed the slayings and identified one of the killers as Uncle Ray or Little Ray. But the girl could describe the second gunman only as "Scary Eyes."

The now 12-year-old girl later identified Powell during one of his appearances in federal court on the drug charges. The girl is not expected to testify at Powell's trial, but prosecutors said they may play a videotaped statement she gave to a psychologist.

Powell was convicted in 1993 in federal court on the drug charge and sentenced to seven years in prison.