PAROLEE CHARGED

A Folsom prison parolee was charged Wednesday in Downey Municipal Court with stabbing his parents to death early Sunday in their La Mirada home.

Because the two counts of murder carry special circumstances, Craig Lee Powell, 31, could face the death penalty if convicted. His arraignment has been continued until May 29, when he is expected to enter a plea. He is being held without bail.

Powell, released in March for the second time from Folsom State Prison where he served time for a 1993 assault with a deadly weapon and a 1990 battery conviction, allegedly broke into his parent’s home a little before 4 a.m. Sunday and argued with his father, Charles Powell, 70. His mother, Betty, 68, called 911 to report a “family disturbance,” said Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Deputy Jim Hannon.

“She gave no indication of the father being stabbed or anything else which was going on,” Hannon said.

When officers arrived, he said, Powell was holding a knife, Charles Powell was dead and Betty Powell had been stabbed several times in her upper body. She died during surgery at UC Irvine Medical Center.

“He’s one of five boys and his brothers all arrived shortly after the police,” Hannon said. “They would have liked to have killed their brother, knowing he had just killed their mother and father.”

Powell was treated at L.A. County-USC Medical Center for cuts to his hands.

Prosecutor Dale Davidson said he asked for capital charges because they “fit the evidence we have.” He alleges that Powell’s murder of his parents with a knife was “deliberate” and “premeditated.”