The Columbia Paper

New jury finds Powell guilty of murdering his wife

April 18, 2009 by DIANE VALDEN

Warren Powell is escorted into court earlier this week. He was again found guilty of murdering his wife in 1994. Photo by David Lee.

HUDSON—Warren Powell is guilty of second degree murder. Again.

At 11 a.m., Friday, April 17, after about seven hours of deliberation, the jury of five men and seven women in Mr. Powell’s retrial in Columbia County Court found him guilty of slaying his wife, Mary Ann (Tasick) Powell, on or about October 1, 1994.

The couple was living in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, at the time and Mrs. Powell, then 21, was six-months pregnant. Her decomposed body was discovered in the Hudson River May 25, 1996 by campers hiking near Gay’s Point in Stockport. She was strangled to death and stuffed in a hockey bag weighed down with rocks.

Accused man testifies in murder retrial

April 17, 2009 by DIANE VALDEN

HUDSON—The jury is now deliberating in the murder case against Warren Powell, after receiving instructions from County Judge Jonathan Nichols Thursday afternoon. But before the trial phase ended, jurors heard testimony from Mr. Powell.

Warren and Mary Ann Powell were excitedly awaiting the birth of their first child, a son, when Mary Ann mysteriously disappeared—leaving Warren to wonder without a clue what had happened to her. That’s what happened according to the testimony Mr. Powell, 38, gave when he took the stand in his own defense during his retrial for the murder of his wife Wednesday, April 15 in Columbia County Court.

A Valatie native, Mr. Powell is charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife on or about October 1, 1994. The couple was living in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, at the time and Mary Ann (Tasick) Powell, then 21, was six-months pregnant.

Inmates say Powell admitted killing his wife

April 14, 2009 by DIANE VALDEN

HUDSON—Two men who know Warren Powell testified this week that the defendant confessed to them that he killed his wife and unborn child. Both men have criminal records.

Mr. Powell, 38, a Valatie native, is charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife on or about October 1, 1994. The couple was living in Halfmoon, Saratoga County, at the time, and Mary Ann (Tasick) Powell, then 21, was six-months pregnant. Her body was discovered in the Hudson River in May 1996 by campers hiking near Gay’s Point in Stockport. She had been strangled to death and stuffed in a hockey bag weighed down with rocks.

Investigator who grilled Powell takes stand in murder retrial

April 12, 2009 by DIANE VALDEN

HUDSON—A senior State Police investigator who spent more than 30 hours talking with Warren Powell took the stand this week in Mr. Powell’s murder retrial and recounted allegedly incriminating and contradictory statements the defendant made to him more than a decade ago.

Mr. Powell, 38, is charged with second degree murder in the death of his wife on or about October 1, 1994. The body of Mary Ann (Tasick) Powell, 21, who was six months pregnant at the time of her death, was discovered in the Hudson River May 25, 1996 by campers hiking near Gay’s Point in Stockport. She was strangled to death and stuffed in a hockey bag weighed with rocks.

Mr. Powell was convicted of her murder but a state appeals court later overturned the conviction. He remains in prison on drug charges unrelated to the murder.

Prosecution calls professor in murder trial

April 9, 2009 by DIANE VALDEN

HUDSON—A former Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute professor appeared to bolster the prosecution’s case, while a sporting goods salesman and hockey enthusiast did not as testimony in the murder retrial of Warren Powell moved into its fourth day Wednesday, April 8.
Both men were witnesses for the prosecution in the case against Mr. Powell, 38, who is charged with second degree murder in the death of his pregnant wife, Mary Ann (Tasick) Powell on or about October 1, 1994. Her body was discovered in the Hudson River May 25, 1996 by campers hiking near Gay’s Point in Stockport. Mrs. Powell, 21, was strangled to death and stuffed in a hockey bag weighted with rocks.
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