Small Town Mysteries

Author: Kate, Christine, and Rachael

3 lifelong friends who like to dish on true crime and the kind of drama that only small towns can provide
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Language: en-us

Genres: Documentary, Society & Culture, True Crime

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How to Get Away with Murder…Or Not
Episode 185
Tuesday, 17 February, 2026

Send a textIn 1999, Paul Warner Powell, a 20-year-old white supremacist, murdered 16-year-old Stacie Reed and brutally assaulted her 14-year-old sister, Kristie, in a racially motivated attack after learning Stacie had a Black boyfriend.After his initial death sentence was vacated due to a legal technicality regarding capital murder requirements, Powell taunted prosecutors in a letter, believing he was protected by double jeopardy. But Powell was not as smart as he thought he was...Sources: 1) https://www.vacourts.gov/static/opinions/opnscvwp/1031421.pdf 2)https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/1999/04/23/a-grim-account-of-attack-on-2-sisters/9a4c2427-ba7b-48f0-96c2-acf72d3a577f/ 3) https://www.pomc.org/murder-wall/murder-wall-stories/stacie-lynn-reed-16-years-old/4) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunning%E2%80%93Kruger_effect5) https://fija.org/library-and-resources/library/jury-nullification-faq/what-is-double-jeopardy.html6)https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capital_murder#:~:text=Capital%20murder%20refers%20to%20a,others%20such%20as%20the%20media.7) https://vocal.media/criminal/the-most-remorseless-killer-who-bragged8) https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/local/2003/01/14/letter-boasting-of-slaying-rape-returns-man-to-va-courtroom/e2363704-1fee-4c5b-851b-0e34f7723e69/9) https://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/03/18/virginia.killer.letter/index.html10) https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/7790959/stacie_lynn-reedSupport the show