kwill1911
Member
On the evening of 17 May 1978, Austin police officer Ralph Ablanedo, 26, pulled over a vehicle for not displaying a rear license plate. The driver, Sheila Meinert, 27, got out of the car and approached him. She told him she had lost her driver's license, but she showed him her passport. The officer asked the dispatcher by radio to check Meinert and her passenger, David Powell, 27, for outstanding warrants. The dispatcher informed Ablanedo that the computers were not functioning properly, but that there were no local warrants for Meinert. Ablanedo issued Meinert a citation for the license plate and allowed her to drive away. As she was pulling out, however, the dispatcher told Ablanedo that Powell had a possible warrant for misdemeanor theft. The dispatcher called for officer Bruce Mills, Ablanedo's partner, to go out to back up Ablanedo.
Ablanedo stopped the vehicle again. As he was approaching the car, and Meinert was walking toward him, Powell shot at the officer through the back window with an AK-47 machine gun. Initially, the weapon was set to semiautomatic mode. Ablanedo tried to get up, but Powell switched the weapon to full automatic mode and fired at him again. The car then left. Officer Mills arrived a few minutes later. Ablanedo had been shot ten times. Despite the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, it was not designed to withstand fire from automatic weapons. Ablanedo told Mills what happened and said he had no chance to draw his weapon. He died on the operating table of the hospital about an hour after he was shot.
Officers tracked Powell's car to an apartment complex parking lot. Powell fired on them from inside the vehicle, but no one was hit. Meinert was arrested in the parking lot.
Police arrested Powell in the early morning in some bushes on the grounds of a nearby school. They discovered a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a backpack containing 2 and 1/4 ounces of high-grade methamphetamine hidden under some shrubs. In the car, police discovered a book entitled "Book of Rifles." Pages discussing the AK-47 were tabbed down, and the book contained notes in Powell's handwriting about different types of weapons and other books on weapons. Also in the car were a pair of handcuffs, some ammunition, and books and notes regarding guerrilla warfare.
Back at the apartment complex, officers found a live hand grenade on the ground, about ten feet away from the driver's door of one of the police cars. The grenade did not detonate because, although the pin was pulled out, the safety clip was still in place.
A search of Powell's residence uncovered another hand grenade, more guns and ammunition, books on weapons and combat, a methamphetamine lab, and three vials of methamphetamine.
David Lee Powell, 59, was executed by lethal injection on 15 June 2010 in Huntsville, Texas. Strapped to the execution gurney with intravenous lines already inserted, Powell kept his eyes locked on members of officer Ralph Ablanedo's family but did not acknowledge Warden Charles O'Reilly's invitation to speak.
Bruce Mills eventually married Ablanedo's widow, Judy, and adopted their two sons. For 32 years this family lived a nightmare of trials, re-trials, appeals, stays, protests....
Once Powell was executed, the presiding judge released Ablanedo's Smith & Wesson Model 27 revolver to Bruce. He brought it to me to help clean it up. APD had left it in Ralph’s original holster which had rotted and left a messy black residue on the gun. There were evidence stickers still on it and the nickel plating was quite dull but the gun was mechanically sound. Several days of soaking, cleaning and polishing were required but the plating was mostly intact and there was no significant rust.
After cleaning, we had a case made and Bruce presented the Model 27 to his adopted sons--Ralph Ablanedo's sons. Here it is:
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Execution Report: David Powell - Page 1
Powell executed for 1978 slaying of police officer
| www.statesman.com
Ablanedo stopped the vehicle again. As he was approaching the car, and Meinert was walking toward him, Powell shot at the officer through the back window with an AK-47 machine gun. Initially, the weapon was set to semiautomatic mode. Ablanedo tried to get up, but Powell switched the weapon to full automatic mode and fired at him again. The car then left. Officer Mills arrived a few minutes later. Ablanedo had been shot ten times. Despite the fact that he was wearing a bulletproof vest, it was not designed to withstand fire from automatic weapons. Ablanedo told Mills what happened and said he had no chance to draw his weapon. He died on the operating table of the hospital about an hour after he was shot.
Officers tracked Powell's car to an apartment complex parking lot. Powell fired on them from inside the vehicle, but no one was hit. Meinert was arrested in the parking lot.
Police arrested Powell in the early morning in some bushes on the grounds of a nearby school. They discovered a .45-caliber semiautomatic pistol and a backpack containing 2 and 1/4 ounces of high-grade methamphetamine hidden under some shrubs. In the car, police discovered a book entitled "Book of Rifles." Pages discussing the AK-47 were tabbed down, and the book contained notes in Powell's handwriting about different types of weapons and other books on weapons. Also in the car were a pair of handcuffs, some ammunition, and books and notes regarding guerrilla warfare.
Back at the apartment complex, officers found a live hand grenade on the ground, about ten feet away from the driver's door of one of the police cars. The grenade did not detonate because, although the pin was pulled out, the safety clip was still in place.
A search of Powell's residence uncovered another hand grenade, more guns and ammunition, books on weapons and combat, a methamphetamine lab, and three vials of methamphetamine.
David Lee Powell, 59, was executed by lethal injection on 15 June 2010 in Huntsville, Texas. Strapped to the execution gurney with intravenous lines already inserted, Powell kept his eyes locked on members of officer Ralph Ablanedo's family but did not acknowledge Warden Charles O'Reilly's invitation to speak.
Bruce Mills eventually married Ablanedo's widow, Judy, and adopted their two sons. For 32 years this family lived a nightmare of trials, re-trials, appeals, stays, protests....
Once Powell was executed, the presiding judge released Ablanedo's Smith & Wesson Model 27 revolver to Bruce. He brought it to me to help clean it up. APD had left it in Ralph’s original holster which had rotted and left a messy black residue on the gun. There were evidence stickers still on it and the nickel plating was quite dull but the gun was mechanically sound. Several days of soaking, cleaning and polishing were required but the plating was mostly intact and there was no significant rust.
After cleaning, we had a case made and Bruce presented the Model 27 to his adopted sons--Ralph Ablanedo's sons. Here it is:
-----
Execution Report: David Powell - Page 1
Powell executed for 1978 slaying of police officer
| www.statesman.com
