Everett Mueller

Background

Everett Lee Mueller abducted, raped and killed Charity Powers, a 10-year-old girl in Chesterfield County, on October 5, 1990.

The offence

Mueller approached Charity Powers and solicited her for sexual activity. He gained police attention for repeatedly cruising the Hardee's parking lot in his wood-sided station wagon. He later admitted approaching Charity Powers believing her to be aged 18 or 19 and soliciting for sexual activity. He admitted taking Powers away from the scene to a location near his house, where he raped her.

Investigation

A witness who knew Charity Powers saw her sitting on a curb outside the closed rink at about 12:50 a.m. the following morning. The witness also saw Everett Mueller standing next to her in front of a Hardees restaurant.

On February 8, 1991, investigators found “a clump of hair and what looked like some white bone sticking out of the ground” approximately 900 feet behind Mueller’s house, and later exhumed Charity’s body. One investigator found a knife sticking in the ground about 174 feet from the grave site.

Arrest

On February 12, 1991, police arrested Mueller. After he was advised of his Miranda rights, Mueller agreed to talk with Detective Wayne R. Garber of the Chesterfield County Police Department and Special Agent John M. Palfi of the FBI. Garber and Palfi questioned Mueller on videotape for approximately four and one-half hours. Mueller confessed to having intercourse with and murdering Charity.

Trial

Convictions and verdicts

On September 11, 1991, Mueller was convicted after a jury trial in the Chesterfield County Circuit Court of abduction with intent to defile and of rape, for which he was sentenced to two life terms. He was also convicted of capital murder in the commission of abduction with intent to defile and of capital murder in the commission of, or subsequent to, rape.

After a capital sentencing hearing on September 12, the jury found Mueller to be a future danger and his crime to be vile, and sentenced him to death on the two capital murder counts. The jury recommended the death sentence on Sept. 12, 1991, in Chesterfield County Circuit Court.

Evidence at trial and witness statements

Kevin Speeks testified that he had seen Charity at a Hardee’s restaurant near the skating rink at about 12:50 a.m. on October 6, 1990. Speeks observed a white male, approximately thirty years old, medium height, with an unkempt appearance, driving a cream-colored station wagon with wood siding through the Hardee’s parking lot several times, and also saw the same man standing by the side of the restaurant near where Charity Powers was sitting on a curb. Everett Lee Mueller fit Speeks’ general description and was known to drive a similar car.

The record also described Charity as disappearing after leaving Skateland in Chester and being last seen about 1:10 a.m. at the Hardee’s Restaurant about 600 yards from the rink. Powers was described as a blond-haired, blue-eyed 5th-grader at Harrowgate Elementary School.

Shannon Abernathy, who described herself as Powers’ best friend, said that she was the last person Powers knew who saw her the night she disappeared. Abernathy said that as she was leaving the rink with her father about midnight, they offered Powers a ride home, and that Powers declined because someone was coming to pick her up.

The doctor who conducted the autopsy testified that Charity’s throat had been cut to the depth of one inch, and that the cause of death was an “acute neck injury.” She also testified that there were “irregular holes in the area where each nipple would be,” which she believed to be the result of an injury, but could not determine their cause or whether they occurred before or after death. The doctor also testified to the existence of evidence consistent with sexual penetration.

Sentencing

Mueller was sentenced to death for the murder and received 2 life sentences for the other crimes on Dec. 19, 1991.

Appeals

Supreme Court of Virginia

Mueller appealed to the Supreme Court of Virginia. The Supreme Court of Virginia affirmed in all respects, in Mueller v. Commonwealth, 244 Va. 386, 422 S.E.2d 380 (1992) (“Mueller I”), and subsequently denied his petition for rehearing.

U.S. Supreme Court

Mueller next filed a petition for a writ of certiorari in the Supreme Court of the United States, which was denied on April 19, 1993 (Mueller v. Virginia, 507 U.S. 1043).

State habeas corpus

After exhausting direct appeal options, Mueller initiated state habeas proceedings by filing a petition in the Circuit Court of Chesterfield County. The Circuit Court dismissed the petition, and Mueller filed a petition of appeal in the Virginia Supreme Court. By order dated April 1, 1996, the Virginia Supreme Court awarded an appeal limited to a single assignment of error challenging the exclusion of evidence or argument dealing with Mueller’s parole status. After briefing and oral argument, the Virginia Supreme Court affirmed the denial of habeas corpus relief (Mueller v. Murray, 252 Va. 356, 478 S.E.2d 542 (1996)) and on June 10, 1997 denied his petition for rehearing.

Federal habeas corpus and Fourth Circuit ruling

Having exhausted available state remedies, Mueller filed his first petition for federal habeas corpus relief under 28 U.S.C. 2254 on July 18, 1997. The district court entered an opinion and final order on August 7, 1998, dismissing his habeas petition. Mueller appealed.

The United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit considered United States Court of Appeals For the Fourth Circuit No. 98-31 Everett Lee Mueller, Petitioner-Appellant, v. Ronald J. Angelone, Director, Virginia Department of Corrections, Respondent-Appellee. The panel issued a decision that was dismissed by published opinion. Judge Luttig wrote the opinion, with Judges Motz and Traxler joining. The decision concluded that none of Mueller’s claims provided a basis for habeas relief, denied his application for a certificate of appealability, and dismissed the appeal.

Clemency and stay of execution

Mueller filed clemency petitions. He also sought a stay of execution shortly before 5 p.m. yesterday. In a 7-2 split, the U.S. Supreme Court turned down Mueller’s request for a stay of execution, with Justice John Paul Stevens and Ruth Bader Ginsburg dissenting.

In a clemency petition to Virginia Gov. Jim Gilmore, Mueller claimed he made up the confession. He said he knew where Charity had been buried only because he came across the body while walking through the woods, and that he was afraid police would blame him for her death; he said he bought a shovel and buried her and burned her clothing. Gilmore declined to intervene.

Gilmore said:

“Upon a thorough review of the Petition for Clemency, the numerous court decisions regarding this case, and the circumstances of this matter, I decline to intervene.”

Outcome

Everett Lee Mueller was executed by injection at the Greensville Correctional Center in Virginia on September 16, 1999.

He was pronounced dead at 9:04 p.m., said Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections. Mueller appeared calm when he was escorted into the death chamber about 8:50 p.m. When asked whether he had a last statement, Mueller shook his head “no.” An undisclosed number of Powers’ family members witnessed the execution.

Traylor said that Mueller did not want details about his requested last meal released to the public. Mueller spent much of his last day visiting with his mother and brother, a prison spokeswoman said. His was described as the 11th execution in Virginia this year and 70th in the state since the death penalty was allowed to resume by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976.

Other details

• Mueller stated during the interrogation that he had agreed to give Charity a ride home from the restaurant but drove her to his house instead; he said he was thinking about having sex with her and stated that he thought the 4'8", ninety pound Charity was eighteen or nineteen years old. He stated that she agreed to have sex with him and told him that she wanted to go home afterwards.
• Mueller stated he took Charity to the woods behind his house and had intercourse there, and that although he had a knife nearby, he did not use it.
• Mueller stated that he strangled Charity to death because he was afraid that she would report the incident to the police.
• Mueller claimed he had been drinking heavily on the night of the murder and that the next morning he did not know whether he had dreamed about the previous night's events or whether they had actually occurred.
• Mueller stated that when he went to check the woods, he saw Charity's body; he then purchased a shovel from a local store, buried the body, and burned Charity's clothes and jewelry nearby.
• After the confession, Mueller led the police to the site where he had buried the body, and brought them to where he had burned the clothing and jewelry, as well as to the area where he had left the knife.
• The report stated that Mueller indicated that he had had intercourse with Charity in an area approximately fifteen feet from where the knife was found.
• The record described that Powers was dropped off at a skating rink on the evening of October 5, 1990, by her mother, with the understanding that a family friend would pick her up later that night; the friend fell asleep and did not show up at the scheduled time.
• The report described a judge panel and legal discussion regarding application of the AEDPA, Miranda and confession issues, Brady material, and claims of ineffective assistance of counsel, including that the Fourth Circuit concluded that Mueller’s Miranda waiver remained knowing, intelligent, and voluntary even after Detective Garber’s response, and that it dismissed Mueller’s habeas petition.