William Powell was executed by the State of North Carolina for the murder of Mary Gladden
According to court documents William Powell would enter a store and demand money. When the clerk Mary Gladden refused Powell would pick up a tire iron and beat her to death
William Powell was arrested, convicted and sentenced to death
William Powell would be executed by lethal injection on March 11 2005
William Powell Photos
William Powell FAQ
When Was William Powell Executed
William Powell was executed on March 11 2005
William Powell Case
A Shelby man was executed early today for the Halloween 1991 slaying of a convenience store clerk. William Dillard “Bugsy” Powell, 58, had been sentenced to death by lethal injection for the beating death of Mary Gladden. Gov. Mike Easley denied a petition for clemency Thursday evening, after the U.S. Supreme Court had rejected a stay of execution.
In 1991, Gladden, who worked at The Pantry in Shelby, tried to stop an unarmed Powell from robbing the store. She was hit over the head with what is thought to have been a tire iron, which was kept in the store but never recovered afterward. Powell’s motive for the robbery was to get money to buy cocaine. He was convicted of first-degree murder and sentenced to death after a 1993 trial.
Powell’s lawyers tried to prevent his execution by questioning the fairness of a death sentence for what they see as a less egregious murder. They also wanted a hearing on whether prosecutors violated Powell’s rights at trial by failing to reveal a deal to dismiss a felony against a key witness. The alleged prosecutorial misconduct was discovered only a few weeks ago and was not evaluated by a judge. Those arguments did not persuade the Supreme Court.
Neither Cleveland County District Attorney Bill Young nor Gladden’s relatives returned calls asking for comment. Young, two of Gladden’s relatives, Keith and Ricky Carroll, and several investigators planned to witness the execution, scheduled for 2 a.m. at Central Prison in Raleigh.
For his last meal, Powell drank a 20-ounce Pepsi and ate a hamburger with mustard, chili and onions and a medium thin crust pizza with pepperoni, mushrooms and Canadian bacon.
Before the 1991 slaying, Powell had been honorably discharged from the Army and served as a volunteer with the rescue squad of the Shelby Fire Department, his lawyers say. He was an excellent caregiver to his autistic son and even helped the PTA at his son’s school, they say. However, his lawyers say, Powell’s life took a downward turn as he succumbed to drug and alcohol abuse. On the night of the killing, Powell was high on cocaine and Xanax, an anti-anxiety drug, they say.
Prior to his decision, Easley had heard a request for clemency from Peter Bearman, chairman of the sociology department at Columbia University. In 1997, Bearman, then a professor of sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill, analyzed more than 100 death penalty cases across the state between 1978 and 1995. Based on factors identified by the N.C. Supreme Court, he evaluated — in layman’s terms — whether the sentences fit the crimes. Bearman decided that Powell’s sentence didn’t seem to fit, or that other murder cases with similar facts resulted in life sentences.
Until a month ago, Bearman had no connection to Powell’s case. Powell was featured in Bearman’s report, but the professor had been hired by another lawyer who hoped the analysis would help another death row inmate. After learning Powell was set to be executed, Bearman came to Raleigh to ask Easley to grant clemency.
