In an ongoing mystery surrounding a murder that happened in a Carlton Road trailer park in March 2004, the much-older boyfriend of 18-year-old Azlee Hickman has been arrested for perjury for statements he made during trial. Another man is already serving a sentence for accessory to Hickman’s murder, but prosecutors have yet to pin anyone with the actual killing.
 Ronald Powell, boyfriend of 18-year-old Azlee Hickman, was arrested for perjury—so far, no one has been convicted for Hickman’s strangulation that happened in 2004. |
Hickman’s boyfriend, Ronald Powell, then 36, with whom she had a child, and Billy Marshall testified they were out drinking the night of March 12. At some point, they returned to the trailer where Powell and Hickman lived, and Hickman wound up dead from asphyxiation. Powell, Marshall and Powell’s older daughter, Heather, say they drove around town to establish alibis, then called the cops.
City Commonwealth’s Attorney Dave Chapman initially prosecuted Marshall for second-degree murder. He had an unexplained scratch on his cheek, and DNA under Hickman’s fingernails could have been his (both Powells had been ruled out by DNA evidence). But the case ended in a mistrial after Powell surprised lawyers by testifying on the stand that Marshall had threatened him with a knife. Prosecutors bargained with Marshall for the accessory to murder charge—he will serve a year and cannot be tried for the murder.
But on January 2, Powell was picked up for perjury for the inconsistencies in his testimony during Marshall’s trial.
City prosecutors could not be reached on whether Powell’s arrest could lead to another charge for murder. He is being held at the Albemarle-Charlottesville Regional Jail without bond. If found guilty, Powell could face 10 years for the perjury charge.