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Powell was given a lethal mixture of drugs, after the U.S. Supreme Court refused to grant him a last-minute reprieve. He died nine minutes after the lethal dose began.

Powell has been tried three times for capital murder. The first two trials were overturned in the appeal process. A third trial required the sentencing portion to be heard. Each case ended with the jury assessing the death penalty.

The story begins in 1978, when Austin Police Officer Ralph Ablanedo pulled over a 1966 red Ford Mustang near Downtown Austin with no rear license plate. After making the traffic stop, the officer issued driver Sheila Meinert a ticket, then proceeded with a routine check on the passenger.

At the time, the computer system to check warrants was down, letting the occupants of the Mustang go. Moments later, Ablanedo received notice, that the passenger, David Lee Powell, was wanted for misdemeanor warrants of theft and passing bad checks.

Ablanedo pulled over the vehicle again.

The investigation shows Powell grabbed an AK-47 and opened fire, shooting through the rear window of the Mustang. Ablanedo was hit 10 times, gunshots ripping through his bullet proof vest. Later, he was pronounced dead at Brackenridge Hospital.

Ablanedo was 26-years-old and a father of two. Ablanedo's partner, Bruce Mills, married Ablanedo’s widow two years after the shooting death.

Retired Austin Police Sergeant Sam Cox was Ablanedo’s supervisor in 1978. He vividly remembers the day the noise of the shooting consumed police radio frequency, saying, "Later on in the evening, that's when it all broke loose. You know, you hear the screams on the radio, and a call for help.”

When asked what was heard on scanner traffic that indicated there was a serious problem Cox said, "Oh geez, officer down."

Now, 32 years later, Powell was put to death for killing Officer Ablanedo.

The death by lethal injection made Powell the longest-serving condemned inmate executed in Texas and one of the longest-serving in the nation put to death.

Members of Ablanedo's family and more than 100 current and former police officers attended the execution to see the legal process through.

One of those in attendance was an officer involved in the manhunt and arrest of Powell for the murder.

"In this process, the wheels of justice have flat fallen off the cart. Millions of dollars have been spent. It never was a question of guilt or innocence, ever. It was about trying to get his life saved," Cox said.

Austin Police Union President Wayne Vincent spoke for the Albanedo family to members of the media, issuing thanks to all the community for their support in a lengthy 32 year process.

"While we do not take lightly today's events, there is a sense of relief ... as the passage of time has allowed for healing," said Wayne Vincent, "However, no amount of time will relieve the sadness."

Anti-death penalty activities were also in Huntsville Tuesday. They protested the execution.