PEDOPHILE IN TEXAS: JAMES REXFORD POWELL (EXECUTED IN TEXAS ON OCTOBER 1, 2002)

               On this date, October 1, 2002, a Pedophile by the name of James Rexford Powell was executed by lethal injection in Texas. He was convicted of the October 6, 1990 murder of 10-year-old Falyssa Van Winkle.

James Rexford Powell

Falyssa Van Winkle

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.clarkprosecutor.org/html/death/US/powell803.htm

Summary: On Oct. 6, 1990, Joe and Elaine Langley were working with their 10-year-old daughter, Falyssa, at a flea market in Beaumont. Joe Langley saw James Rexford Powell, an acquaintance, at 9 a.m. for about 10 to 15 minutes. Langley also saw Powell talk to Falyssa. Around 10 a.m., Falyssa left to buy a bag of peanuts; a little while later, Powell came by and indicated he was leaving. Falyssa never returned and her body was found that afternoon under a bridge with her hands and ankles bound with rope. She had been sexually abused and died of ligature strangulation. Witnesses identified Powell's motor home on the bridge and DNA from sperm found on Falyssa's body matched Powell's DNA. 

Citations:

Final Meal: One pot of coffee. 

Final Words: "I'm ready for the final blessing," 

Internet Sources:

Texas Department of Criminal Justice - Executed Offenders (James Powell)
Texas Attorney General Media Advisory

MEDIA ADVISORY - Friday, Sept. 27, 2002 - James Rexford Powell Scheduled to be Executed. 

AUSTIN - Texas Attorney General John Cornyn offers the following information on James Rexford Powell, who is scheduled to be executed after 6 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 1, 2002. 

On June 6, 1991, James Rexford Powell was sentenced to die for the capital murder of Falyssa Van Winkle, which occurred on Oct. 6, 1990. A summary of the evidence presented at trial follows: 

FACTS OF THE CRIME 

On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 6, 1990, Joe and Elaine Langley were working with their 10-year-old daughter, Falyssa, at a flea market in Beaumont. Joe Langley saw James Rexford Powell, an acquaintance, at 9 a.m. for about 10 to 15 minutes. Langley also saw Powell talk to Falyssa. Around 10 a.m., Falyssa left to buy a bag of peanuts; a little while later, Powell came by and indicated he was leaving. Langley did not see Falyssa or Powell again. A vendor saw Powell near the peanut stand around 10 a.m., and another recalled seeing a motor home identified as Powell's, leaving the market between 10 and 10:30 a.m. 

Between noon and 1 p.m., Powell's motor home was seen traveling on a dirt road toward Bon Weir, a town northeast of Beaumont in Newton County, near the Louisiana border. The vehicle was also spotted near a bridge on a dirt road. About 3:15 p.m., Falyssa's body was found under the bridge.
A rope was tied tightly around Falyssa's neck and wrists, and her ankles were determined to have also been tied together with a rope at some point in time. The cause of death was determined to be "mechanical asphyxiation associated with homicidal ligature strangulation." Falyssa had also sustained a head injury and sexual assault. Because Powell's motor home matched the description of the one several witnesses saw near the bridge on the day of the murder, law enforcement investigators obtained a warrant to search the vehicle. 

The next day, a neighbor of Powell's observed him washing the inside, outside and underside of his motor home. Despite the cleansing, the search of the vehicle produced white dog hairs that matched a similar hair that was found on Falyssa's body. Law enforcement officers also found six "forcibly removed" hairs that matched Falyssa's head hair. Tire tracks at the crime scene matched the tires on Powell's motor home. DNA test results revealed that sperm found in Falyssa's body matched the DNA of Powell's blood. 

PROCEDURAL HISTORY 

On Nov. 8, 1990, the State of Texas indicted Powell for the capital murder of Falyssa Van Winkle while in the course of aggravated sexual assault and kidnapping. Powell pleaded "not guilty" in the First Judicial District Court of Newton County. Trial on the merits began May 6, 1991, and on June 3, 1991, the jury returned a verdict of "guilty." Following a separate punishment hearing, the same jury answered "yes" to the deliberateness and future dangerousness special issues. Consequently, on June 6, 1991, the trial court assessed punishment at death. 

The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed Powell's conviction and death sentence in a published 1994 opinion, and denied rehearing in 1995. The Supreme Court denied certiorari review within the year. 

In 1998, the Court of Criminal Appeals denied Powell's application for state habeas relief, and the federal district court denied federal habeas relief three years later. In 2002, the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed the district court's decision. Currently, Powell has a petition for certiorari to the Fifth Circuit pending. 

CRIMINAL BACKGROUND 

The State of Louisiana previously tried Powell for attempted murder, but a jury acquitted him. 

ProDeathPenalty.com

Execution is scheduled Oct. 1 for a man who kidnapped a 10-year-old Lake Charles girl from a Texas flea market and killed her in October 1990. A Texas judge scheduled the execution after the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeal turned down the latest appeal from James Rexford Powell, convicted of killing Falyssa Ann Van Winkle. He has a July 28 deadline to appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. 

Falyssa was kidnapped from a flea market in Beaumont, Texas, across the state line from Lake Charles. Her body was found the same day, under a bridge crossing Cow Creek between Newton and Kirbyville. Powell was arrested two days later. Falyssa's father, Mike Van Winkle, said he is confident Powell will die Oct. 1. "I don't really know how I feel ... can't put my finger on it," he said this week. "I don't want to use the word `closure,' but it goes without saying that I will be there Oct. 1." Van Winkle said he will be on vacation, but will drive to the prison in Huntsville, Texas, the site of the state's death chamber. "My gut tells me that it will happen that day," he said. "I was concerned about the appeal before the 5th Circuit, but they slammed that down." 

Powell said prosecutors should not have been allowed to mention an attempted murder charge on which he was acquitted during the penalty phase of his 1991 trial in Newton, Texas. He said it violated his right to a "fair and reliable" sentencing under the Fifth, Eighth and 14th Amendments to the Constitution. The 5th Circuit also rejected a claim about DNA testing. 

Powell, formerly of Merryville, La., has refused requests to be interviewed. He has never talked publicly about his conviction and death sentence. 

On the morning of Saturday, Oct. 6, 1990, Joe and Elaine Langley were working with their 10-year-old daughter, Falyssa, at a flea market in Beaumont. Joe Langley saw James Rexford Powell, an acquaintance, at 9 a.m. for about 10 to 15 minutes. Langley also saw Powell talk to his stepdaughter Falyssa. Around 10 a.m., Falyssa left to buy a bag of peanuts; a little while later, Powell came by and indicated he was leaving. Langley did not see Falyssa or Powell again. A vendor saw Powell near the peanut stand around 10 a.m., and another recalled seeing a motor home identified as Powell's, leaving the market between 10 and 10:30 a.m. 

Between noon and 1 p.m., Powell's motorhome was seen traveling on a dirt road toward Bon Weir, a town northeast of Beaumont in Newton County, near the Louisiana border. The vehicle was also spotted near a bridge on a dirt road. About 3:15 p.m., Falyssa's body was found under the bridge. A rope was tied tightly around Falyssa's neck and wrists, and her ankles were determined to have also been tied together with a rope at some point in time. The cause of death was determined to be "mechanical asphyxiation associated with homicidal ligature strangulation." Falyssa had also sustained a head injury and sexual assault. Because Powell's motorhome matched the description of the one several witnesses saw near the bridge on the day of the murder, law enforcement investigators obtained a warrant to search the vehicle. 

The next day, a neighbor of Powell's observed him washing the inside, outside and underside of his motorhome. Despite the cleansing, the search of the vehicle produced white dog hairs that matched a similar hair that was found on Falyssa's body. Law enforcement officers also found six "forcibly removed" hairs that matched Falyssa's head hair. Tire tracks at the crime scene matched the tires on Powell's motor home. DNA test results revealed that sperm found in Falyssa's body matched the DNA of Powell's blood. 

James Rexford Powell

Texas Execution Information Center by David Carson.
 
James Rexford Powell, 56, was executed by lethal injection on 1 October 2002 in Huntsville, Texas for the abduction, rape, and murder of a ten-year-old girl. 

On 6 October 1990, Powell, then 44, drove his motor home to the Beaumont flea market where he sometimes sold items. Also selling their wares that Saturday morning were Joe and Elaine Langley, who also brought Elaine's daughter, Falyssa Van Winkle, 10. At about 10 a.m., Falyssa told her parents she was going to buy a bag of peanuts. Sometime shortly thereafter, Powell abducted her and put her in his motor home, binding her wrists and ankles with rope and possibly knocking her unconscious. He walked over to the Langleys and said goodbye to them, then drove away. He then drove out of town, raped Falyssa, and strangled her with the rope. He then dumped her body under a bridge near the Texas-Louisiana state line. 

Falyssa's body was discovered at about 3 p.m. Witnesses reported seeing Powell's distinctive motor home near the site where the body was discovered. Joe Langley remembered seeing Powell talking to his stepdaughter that morning. Another vendor remembered seeing Powell's motor home leaving the flea market between 10 and 10:30 a.m. 

The next day, a neighbor of Powell's observed him washing his motor home inside, outside, and underneath. Nevertheless, sheriff's deputies found six "forcibly removed" hairs in the motor home that matched the hair on Falyssa's head. DNA testing showed that the sperm found in Falyssa's body matched Powell. 

Powell had no prior criminal record. He had previously been tried in Louisiana for attempted murder, but he was acquitted. 

A jury convicted Powell of capital murder in June 1991 and sentenced him to death. The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals affirmed the conviction and sentence in November 1994. All of his subsequent appeals in state and federal court were denied. 

Powell asserted his innocence in a letter he wrote to the media from death row. "I was not the one who committed this crime," he wrote. "It's not only the 'poor, abused, black man' that gets screwed, sometimes it's us 'poor, old, white folks' who get shafted too." The only statement Powell made at his execution was, "I am ready for the final blessing." He then smiled and nodded at his friends and family, and the lethal injection was administered. He was pronounced dead at 6:17 p.m.