Wednesday, Mar. 03, 2010

Mystery shrouds Garner killing

Calm 911 call, then 2 are dead

Minutes after Daniel Jonathan Powell, 52, apparently shot to death Doreen Powell, 46, at their Garner home late Thursday morning, he dialed 911 and spoke to the operator as casually as someone passing the time of day.

"Hi. How are you doing?" Powell asked the dispatcher.

"Fine," the dispatcher answered. "And you?"

It was then he reported he had killed his wife, the mother of their four daughters.

"...OK, um, well, I ah, I just want to confess to a murder."

The dispatcher asked when it happened.

"Aah, actually it occurred about five minutes ago," Powell answered.

The dispatcher asked Powell to hold. When she left the line, there was a loud sound like a gunshot, followed by a dial tone.

It took an hour for the phone to be traced and response to be organized for the worst-case scenario - a hostage situation or standoff. But when police arrived at 217 Whithorne Drive, they found both Powells dead in a bedroom. They found ammunition, two handwritten notes, a shell casing and a handgun, according to a search warrant application made public Friday at the Wake County Clerk of Courts Office. Police announced on Friday that they also found a knife at the home and that Doreen Powell had visible stab and gunshot wounds.

The apparent murder-suicide has mystified the police and neighbors who described the Powells as a kind, friendly couple who had a teenage daughter living at home and grandsons who visited often. During a press conference Friday at the Garner Police Department, Sgt. Chris Clayton said police had been called to the residence four times previously, but there were no reports of domestic issues.

There were never reports of crime at the residence, and Daniel Powell did not have a criminal history, police said.

Cathy Mason, the Powells' next-door neighbor, said the husband and wife were both postal workers. Daniel Powell retired from the U.S. Army years ago. Doreen was a member of the National Guard and was deployed to Iraq for a year about three years ago.

Mason said the couple loved their four daughters and four grandsons. It was a common sight to see Doreen, "Dee," playing outside with her grandsons, while Daniel puttered around the house, painting, raking or mowing the lawn and fixing things.

"Dan was involved with the kids, too," Mason said. "He would show his grandsons how to play the guitar and the drums."

Police have not yet determined why Daniel Powell shot his wife before turning the handgun on himself.

The Powells' neighbors are trying to make sense of what happened, too, and why.

"Dan was not a monster," Mason said. News researcher Peggy Neal contributed to this report.