In his first comments to the family of an Austin police officer he fatally shot more than 30 years ago, Texas death row inmate David Lee Powell took responsibility in a hand-written letter and apologized for 'the evil I have done.' 'I am infinitely sorry that I killed Ralph Ablanedo,' wrote Powell, who shot Ablanedo 10 times with an AK-47, according to court records. 'I stole from you and the world the precious and irreplaceable life of a good man.' Powell, whose execution date could be set within days, said he has no excuse for what happened May 18, 1978, but wrote that his actions happened 'in a few frightened seconds.' He said that he wrote the four-page letter, dated Dec. 31, after years of consideration and that he wanted to address the enormity of his action. 'I felt a spiritual need and a moral obligation to offer you whatever little I could,' Powell wrote. Powell for decades has declined to publicly discuss the shooting -- he never took the stand in any of his trials -- and denied the Austin American-Statesman's most recent interview request last week. His letter to Ablanedo's family comes in the same month that Travis County prosecutors submitted a list of possible execution dates for Powell to state District Judge Mike Lynch. Travis County District Attorney Rosemary Lehmberg said an execution date hasn't been selected to allow Ablanedo's loved ones to review the letter. 'I'm skeptical of the sincerity at this late date,' said Bruce Mills, who was Ablanedo's patrol partner and later married his widow and adopted his two sons. 'His taking responsibility or apologizing doesn't change anything for me.' The letter, which was obtained by the American-Statesman this week, also comes amid the release of a 29-minute video by letdavidlive.org, a group that is seeking to prevent Powell's execution. The video includes clips from Powell during a prison conversation, as well as interviews with his mother, sister, uncle and college friends. 'The pain and shock of the death of Officer Ablanedo, and the blow of being sentenced repeatedly to death, being judged by members of the community to be unworthy of life, have morally humbled me,' Powell says in the video. Powell, who grew up on a dairy farm and graduated as valedictorian of his high school class at 16, moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas, where he became an activist. His mother says in the video that he started using illegal substances and that 'drugs did him in.' The shooting occurred after Ablanedo pulled over Sheila Meinert, Powell's girlfriend at the time, for a routine traffic stop. Powell, who also was accused of trying to shoot other officers when they cornered him, was found guilty and sentenced to death within months of the shooting. He appealed his conviction, saying that he had talked to a psychiatrist without being warned of his rights, and received a new trial in 1991. Powell also appealed that guilty verdict and, after he said he had been improperly sentenced, was given a new sentencing trial in 1999. He was again given the death penalty. His lawyers appealed that decision to the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals and lost. Meinert served four years of a 15-year sentence for being a party to attempted capital murder. In his letter to Ablanedo's family, Powell addressed Ablanedo's mother, siblings, widow, two sons and Mills. Powell told Betsy Ablanedo that 'in your son's place, I left a deep and enduring sorrow. I know this because I left a different, but related sorrow in what had been my place in my mother's life.' He wrote to Irene and Armand Ablanedo that they must miss their brother each day: 'I placed an empty chair at the family table forever.' In his comments to Judy Mills, Powell said, 'because of me, you had to explain to your sons that their father would never come home again. Because of me, you had to overcome the sorrow of your bereavement while starting life over as a single parent.' Powell told David and Steve Mills, Ablanedo's sons, that 'I stole from you a hero.' David Mills said that 'it was a good gesture to at least acknowledge to the family that he admits guilt, that he is apologetic. I guess I hope that maybe it was something that would bring him some closure as well.' But to Mills, the letter doesn't change the facts of his father's death or his opinion that Powell's death sentence should be carried out. Tony Plohetski writes for the Austin American-Statesman. E-mail: tplohetski@statesman.com. 