The Powell (Josh, his brother Michael and their Father Steven) Document Dump May 2013/6.27.13 Footage obtained by KSL of Josh Powell questioning shows evasive behavior

West Valley bungled this investigation from start to finish! Now another possible suspect is dead.  

Breaking Update: West Valley City police have announced that they are ending the active phase of the the investigation into the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell. However, the have also announce that they will be releasing evidence and documentation associated with the case to the public Monday.

This is a breaking story. Check back for more information.

WEST VALLEY CITY — New information is expected to be released today in the Susan Cox Powell investigation.

West Valley police have called a 3 p.m. news conference they say will involve "detailed updates" pertaining to the 3 ½-year-old case.

The press conference comes on the heels of a two-day search in a heavily wooded area outside of Salem, Ore., last week. Nothing was found. At that time, West Valley police hinted it likely marked the end of their investigation, barring any new evidence that might come up.

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I am watching the press conference at the link right now.

By Pamela Manson | The Salt Lake Tribune
First Published May 21 2013 05:45 pm • Last Updated May 22 2013 11:15 am

Within weeks of Utah mom Susan Powell's disappearance, police got help in their investigation from the missing woman's sister-in-law, who secretly recorded the focus of their probe.
According to documents, Jennifer Graves questioned Josh Powell, her brother, about what he did the night his wife was last seen and asked, "Where did you put her?"
She also confronted their father, Steven Powell, that same night - Jan. 18, 2010, six weeks after the disappearance - about him allegedly having propositioned Susan Powell several years before.
Both conversations were recorded in what police dubbed "Operation Puyallup", named after the city in Washington state where Steven Powell and his son were living.
The attempt to get the two to self incriminate didn't work. Josh Powell refused to discuss the disappearance, citing advice from his attorney, court documents say, and Steven Powell called Graves a "bitch" before ordering her out of his house.
Graves, who lives in Utah, told the Tribune on Tuesday that she suggested to police she be wired because she wanted to help find out what had happened to Susan Powell.
"In that situation, you feel so powerless," Graves said Tuesday of the search for Susan Powell.
Graves said she "absolutely" believes that Josh Powell killed Susan Powell and that her father and another brother, Michael Powell, also were involved somehow, possibly after the fact.
"By the evidence, it looks like Michael helped him (Josh Powell) hide the body," she said.
Graves said she and Michael Powell had been close as children and it was devastating to learn of his possible involvement. As for Steven Powell, Graves said, "I still think he had something to do with it, even though they don't have any hard evidence."
Susan Powell was last seen on Dec. 6, 2009, at her West Valley City home, which she shared with her husband, the only person of interest ever named in the case.
Josh Powell claimed he left his wife at home as he took his sons, Charlie and Braden, then ages 4 and 2, on a late-night winter camping trip in the West Desert of Utah. He denied having anything to do with the disappearance.
On Monday, West Valley City police closed the active investigation into the disappearance and released thousands of pages of document related to the case.
Graves went to her father's house in Washington with her husband after police obtained a court order allowing the recording. She doesn't think her father and brother suspected she was wearing a wire but couldn't be sure.
"I was very scared," she said. "I had no idea what they would do if they figured it out."
Court documents say Graves told her brother that she had heard rumors that he would be going to jail for a long time and suggested that he take a plea bargain. Josh Powell said he hadn't done anything but Graves continued to press him about his actions on the night his wife was last seen by anyone outside the family.
"I didn't have anything to do with it," Josh Powell said of the disappearance, according to records.
Graves said she has written a book about her perspective on the case and her nephews' deaths at the hands of their father. The self-published book, "A Light in Dark Places," is slated for release in June and will be sold through Amazon, she said.
She has mixed feelings about the active investigation being closed, saying she's a little disappointed but also ready to move forward.
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Kudo's to Jennifer Graves!!!!!!

The fact that her own father called her a Bitch when asked about Susan speaks VOLUMES!

WEST VALLEY CITY — After spending a year behind bars, Steven Powell's feelings toward Chuck Cox, the West Valley Police Department, and the LDS Church apparently remain sour.

Among the tens of thousands of pages of information from the Susan Cox Powell investigation released by West Valley police on Monday, were letters written from Steven Powell to his daughter Alina and son Michael during the time he's been incarcerated.

A review of some of the letters shows that the patriarch of the Powell family, who was convicted by a Tacoma jury on 14 counts of voyeurism in May of 2012 and sentenced to prison, reveals his distrust of law enforcement and his extremely negative feelings for Chuck Cox. The letters also show that he was plotting a wrongful death lawsuit against law enforcement for the death of his son, Josh Powell, and has been busy writing a novel with his own beliefs about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Powell wrote two letters dated Dec. 16, 2012, to his daughter Alina, and to his son Michael Powell. In the letter to his son, Steven Powell said "law enforcement is out of control," and he made a point of noting that he believes the majority of officers with West Valley police and the FBI are LDS.

"What the state has done to me is 100 percent illegal," he wrote.

Powell wrote that he believes he will have a "strong wrongful death suit" once he gets out prison — which could be within the next month. He also wants to find a "competent" appeals attorney so his criminal conviction can be overturned.

"The egg flowing down the faces of the government will be massive, I believe. They must be held accountable!!!," Powell wrote. "I want them to think twice next time they decide to attack an innocent family."

Letter to Alina

A letter to Alina Powell with the same date repeats many of the same topics, while also calling his son Josh Powell a "devoted father."

"These government agencies will ultimately have to come clean," Steven Powell wrote. "There is a disproportionate number of Mormons in the FBI because that agency favors agents who are comfortable with situation ethics."

Powell, who both police and prosecutors noted in numerous documents, pictures and videos had a deep and bizarre obsession with his missing daughter-in-law Susan Cox Powell, ended the letter on an odd tangent discussing many of the woman's alleged sexual experiences, as well as expressing his dislike for her father, Chuck Cox.

In a letter dated two days later to Michael Powell, Steven wrote that Alina had told him it might be best if he didn't move back into his old house in Puyallup, Wash., when he is released from prison.

"She would prefer somewhere other than our house to live," Steven Powell wrote. His daughter's reasons were for safety, and because she didn't want the house "to be a lightning rod for media."

"Frankly, I am not anxious to go back to that house/neighborhood, either," Steven Powell wrote.

Powell also wrote to his son about how the family was struggling financially and how Alina had been making the house payments using money from his own life insurance and retirement policies, as well as credit cards to subsidize the payments. He said Alina was looking to get a job at that point.

He also made reference to a book he's apparently been writing while in prison, saying he had finished 300 pages of a book about LDS Church founder Joseph Smith.

All Washington State prison inmates must submit an "offender release plan" before they can be released early from prison because of good behavior. In that plan, inmates must provide information such as where they plan to live, work, and what treatment they will continue receiving. Powell was originally eligible for release on Thursday. But he did not have his plan submitted in time. Once a plan is approved, an inmate must wait 35 days to be released while proper notifications are made.

Washington corrections officials said Wednesday they had not yet reviewed his plan and no release date was scheduled.

Michael Powell

This week, West Valley police announced that they believe Michael Powell had "intimate involvement" in his sister-in-law's disappearance and had frequent communication with Josh Powell, who is suspected of killing his wife, through a device that encrypted their conversations. Investigators were never able to decrypt those communications.

Michael Powell, who was attending college in Minnesota, committed suicide by jumping off of a parking structure in February.

In a letter written to Alina Powell the day after the suicide, Steven Powell referenced what he called an "interrogation" by two FBI agents in July of 2012. During that time, he claimed the agents threatened to take away Michael Powell's federal funding for his doctorate program if he (Steven) didn't cooperate with them.

Powell also claimed the agents made reference to the movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colo., and told him that Michael "is going to have a similar psychotic episode," according to the letter.

"You and I both understand the second threat against Michael as a plan to somehow assault him with psychotropic drugs," Steven Powell wrote, while noting that his son's suicide was "in reaction" to the drug.

Powell continues, saying someone must have put something in Michael Powell's food or drinks before he killed himself.

West Valley police interviewed Steven Powell in prison in August of 2012 in an attempt to get information about what happened to Susan Powell. While investigators said this week that they do not believe he had anything to do with her disappearance, they believe he has information that could help them.

Powell refused to give them any information. But investigators commented on his body language during that interview, noting that he noticeably shook when confronted about his own journal entries talking about the possibility of Josh Powell killing his sons before the event actually happened, and then watched as his "eyes welled with tears."

"I told Steve that he is the only one who ever expressed or knew about that danger and I asked him again what he did to stop Josh," one detective wrote.

Later, the detective grilled Steven Powell about whether he ever asked his son where he went after his wife disappeared. Steven Powell refused to answer.

Josh Powell murdered his two young sons and then killed himself in February of 2012.

In a letter to Alina Powell after Michael's suicide, Steven Powell appears to have changed his mind about returning to live in his house. In the letter, he tells Alina that he plans to live downstairs because the master suite, where he took pictures of young neighbor girls with a long lens, was then being used as a storage room.

"I will feel more comfortable if I can be around family," he wrote. "At my age I need family support more than the average person who is leaving this institution. Anyway, let's do whatever we can so that I can come home."

Powell also told Alina in the letter not to throw out the beer and wine in the house as he said he is not prohibited from having it.

In a more recent letter dated April 15, 2013, Steve Powell wrote to his daughter that he was preparing to get out of prison and move back home, but said if he wasn't allowed to do that, he may just live in his van.

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Excuse me? What Steven Powell did is/was ILLICIT! I do NOT feel he has been rehabilitated and Never will be. I would not put it past him to go poof even though he is now a convicted sexual predator and is suppose to register. I put absolutely Nothing past him. He's not only a sexual deviant but a psychopath and most likely, a murderer.

You said it best wrap.

Newly released police records show that Utah officials believe Josh Powell likely killed his wife and that his brother, Michael Powell, helped dispose of the body, but authorities felt they didn't have enough evidence to prove that theory in court.

During the investigation, Josh Powell killed himself and his two young sons and then left all of his belongings to his brother, who later jumped to his death from a parking garage in Minnesota.

The documents, released late Monday, gave the public a glimpse into what police knew of Susan Powell's 2009 disappearance. Among the revelations: Josh Powell likely had an affair months before his wife disappeared.

Also, Susan Powell wrote in her journal that she was afraid of her husband and worried he might kill her.

The West Valley City Police Department has come under criticism for not doing enough to bring Josh Powell to justice. Documents show that detectives doubted Josh Powell's bizarre story that he left his sleeping wife at home in the middle of the night to take the boys camping in the Utah desert during a snowstorm, and they questioned his odd behavior in the days after the disappearance.

The files discussed how detectives painstakingly followed up on tips they received from campers, hunters, prisoners and other law enforcement agencies and even psychics.

Following Josh Powell's death last year — and his decision to make his brother the main beneficiary of his life insurance policy — police focused more closely on Michael Powell.

Michael Powell, an ardent supporter of Josh Powell, killed himself Feb. 11.

He was interviewed numerous times last year after investigators determined he left his car at an Oregon junk yard weeks after Susan's disappearance — a fact police didn't learn until nearly two years later. Officials said he offered evasive answers about why he got rid of the car and how he had used it in the weeks after her disappearance.

His suicide left investigators without any person of interest in the case. While authorities believe the brothers were responsible for Susan Powell's disappearance, they said repeatedly Monday that they never had enough evidence to bring charges — an assertion that has been questioned in the past by legal experts as well as law enforcement in Washington state.

"This is a circumstantial case, yes," said West Valley City Deputy Chief Phil Quinlan. His fellow deputy chief, Mike Powell, added, "We didn't have a body. We don't have a crime scene."

The Powell brothers used sophisticated computer encryption to communicate, Quinlan said. Investigators have been unable to decipher that secret communication. (Then why didn't they sent it to another agency that could decipher it???)

The case file shows that in August 2010, police contacted a West Valley City woman, whose full name is redacted, after her phone number was discovered in Josh Powell's phone records.

She told police she had a sexual relationship with Josh Powell after meeting him through a dating service about six or seven months before Susan Powell disappeared. The woman said she knew Josh Powell by the name John Staley, and she didn't know he was married. It wasn't until after she saw news coverage of the case that she discerned his true identity.

The woman "advised she and Josh had sex five to six times in various areas of the Salt Lake Valley," and "stated Josh Powell paid a total of approximately $800 during this time frame," detective Ellis Maxwell wrote in one report.

She also gave detectives a tour of areas where she said they conducted their encounters — always during daytime, Maxwell wrote.

The woman initially called 911 just days after Susan Powell disappeared and claimed she had been having an affair with Josh Powell for the past two months, Maxwell wrote. At the time, however, she declined to provide corroborating information.

The file includes other details, and contained emails from Susan Powell's father, Chuck Cox, who expressed hope his daughter might be found in the days after her December 2009 disappearance.

Cox believed Josh Powell poisoned his wife's pancakes before she was taken from the couple's house.

"The question is, where did he put her and will we find her before she does die?" Cox wrote in an email to Utah authorities, according to the police file. "One possibility is that she is still alive, but we need to find her before she does die, if the poison was not a fatal dose, she may ... be found."

Susan Powell was reported missing after failing to show up for work. Josh Powell maintained his innocence and said he had taken the couple's young boys on a midnight camping trip in freezing temperatures the night she was last seen.

Police found a small amount of her blood on the floor next to a recently cleaned sofa and carpet in their house, and Josh Powell's bizarre behavior following the disappearance left lingering questions.

When he arrived at his house following his purported camping trip, he had his wife's cellphone in his van, with the digital SIM card removed. He couldn't explain why he had her phone, police said.

Asked why he didn't tell his boss he wouldn't be coming into work that day, a Monday, Josh Powell said he thought it was Sunday.

The day after Susan Powell was reported missing, Josh Powell rented a car at the Salt Lake City airport. He returned it two days later, having driven it more than 800 miles. And 10 days after she was reported missing, Josh Powell cleaned out her retirement accounts, without ever offering to provide any information to help police find her.

Josh Powell eventually returned to the couple's hometown of Puyallup, Wash., where he got caught up in a battle with Susan Powell's parents for custody of the boys, 7-year-old Charlie and 5-year-old Braden.

On Feb. 15, 2012, he locked a social worker out of a rental home at the start of a supervised visit, attacked the boys with a hatchet and set the house afire. All three were killed in the blaze.
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A newly-released home video of missing Utah mom Susan Powell shows her talking to the camera and documenting her valuable belongings in case anything should happen to her or her family.
In an almost eerie prediction of her demise, Susan says to the camera: 'This is me July 29th, 2008, covering all my bases, making sure that if something happens to me or my family, or all of us, that our assets are documented.'
She later said in the video that someone, more than likely her husband, broke her personal things in a rage, hinting at trouble in her marriage.
She said: 'He broke all my DVDs in a rage when he was angry at me a year or two back.'
She finally expresses hope that her family can be happy: 'Hope everything works out and we’re all happy and live happily ever after as much as that’s possible.'

The 28-year-old was last seen in December 2009 at the Utah home she shared with her husband Josh and their two young sons - who later died in a tragic murder suicide at the hands of their father.
The video was released by police along with hundreds of other documents as it was announced on Monday that the case was officially closed.
Mike Powell of the West Valley Deputy Chief, said: 'No stone has been left unturned. Today Susan is still missing but we have reached a point in the investigation that the tips and leads have been followed upon completely.
'Our top priority in this investigation has been to find Susan and then prosecute those involved. What we are saying at this point is that we believe that Josh Powell was involved in Susan's disappearance.'
Among the 30,000 pages of documents were hand written notes by Susan which specifically stated her husband should not have access to them and also saying: 'If I die, it may not be an accident.'
The emails and letters written to coworkers and friends go in some way to tell Susan's part of the story, painting a lonely and scared woman who longed to have her loving husband back and live a happy life with their children.
In 2008, she wrote multiple emails to friends and coworkers talking about losing the man she fell in love with.
On July 28 she wrote: 'He used to buckle me in and give me a kiss, hold doors open, sincerely worry if I didn’t put on a coat, buy groceries and help me cook/clean and/or cook/clean for himself...Not be all radical about the latest huge world problems.'
But these appear to have simply been treasured memories as other notes and emails painted a picture of a controlling, abusive man.
He kept control of the finances, did not allow Susan to have a cell phone, made her ride her bike to work and would only let her have a shower every other day to save money.


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OMG that is so eerie to watch that video. All the documents and evidence coming out is damning to the investigators. WTH were they waiting for?

WEST VALLEY CITY — Now that the active police investigation into the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell is over, her father has a new idea about where to look for her body.

Chuck Cox said late Friday he believes his daughter might be found somewhere along Interstate 84 between Tremonton and Pendleton, Ore. — a route he suspects was possibly taken by his son-in-law Josh Powell and Michael Powell, the man's brother.

"It seems like one area that we have not been focused on in the past," Cox said.

Susan Powell has been missing since December 2009 when she disappeared from her West Valley home and is presumed dead. Cox and police believe her husband Josh Powell killed her. Investigators this week said they believe Michael Powell had "intimate involvement" in her disappearance.

Josh Powell committed suicide in February of 2012 after murdering their two young sons. Michael Powell killed himself a year later in February of this year.

When he was alive, Josh told investigators and the media he went camping in Simpson Springs. Police combed that area thoroughly and found nothing.

"At the time when Josh said that, one of the things that stuck out in my mind was: if he's telling me to look south, I ought to be looking north. But where north?" Cox said.

Josh rented a car and logged over 800 miles on Dec. 8, 2009, the day after Susan was reported missing. Newly released documents show Michael Powell had disposed of his vehicle. Cadaver dogs detected human decomposition in the car.

Somewhere between Pendleton, Ore., and Tremonton, Utah, Cox believes Susan's body was dumped. He plans to search this area next week with a private investigator, but he needs the public's help.

"The people who live out there, they know the areas and what roads were plowed at the time, what might be accessible, where to look," he said.

Organizing his own search after West Valley police have officially called an end to the investigation into Susan's disappearance may seem like a fruitless task, but Cox says there's one thing that keeps him going: He's a father who needs to find his daughter.

"We can't concentrate on the rest of things until this is over, and this isn't over for us yet," he said. "It will never be the same, but if we can at least find her and put her to rest with her boys, that would be an ending of sorts and we could probably move on with other things."

Also Friday, a judge unsealed several warrants used in the West Valley Police Department's search Susan Powell. The ruling came as a result of a motion filed by KSL News and the Deseret News in 3rd District Court.

The warrants show that within the first few days of the investigation into Susan's disappearance, Josh was giving "contradictory and unreasonable" answers to investigator's questions.

"For the first 36 hours after his wife has disappeared, J. Powell never inquires about her welfare, never asks what police are doing to locate her, never offers any help or assistance to law enforcement," a search warrant states.

Other warrants show West Valley police in 2011 requested wiretaps on phones belonging to Josh and his father, Steven Powell, and then tried to get them to talk about Susan's disappearance.

The documents unsealed Friday come in addition to the tens of thousands of pages of police reports released Monday.

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I am Stunned by this. Shouldn't be but am. What is stunning is WHY is all this just NOW coming out to the media? If they knew he was having affairs and also had Susan's video, why did they keep silent? OMG, this police dept Really dropped the ball!

By Pat Reavy, Deseret News
Published: Friday, May 24 2013 6:25 p.m. MDT

Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News

Summary
Newly unsealed court documents outline the many efforts West Valley police used to try and find out what happened to Susan Powell, including wiretaps Josh Powell and his father.

Susan Powell's father wants help searching for her along I-84
“For the first 36 hours after his wife has disappeared, J. Powell never inquires about her welfare, never asks what police are doing to locate her, never offers any help or assistance to law enforcement.”
Statement from a search warrant
WEST VALLEY CITY — Police investigating the disappearance of Susan Powell used wiretaps on phones belonging to Josh Powell and his father, Steven Powell, and attempted to orchestrate ways to get them to talk, newly released search warrants show.

The warrants in the Powell case were unsealed for the first time Thursday after the Deseret News filed a motion in 3rd District Court. West Valley police on Monday also released tens of thousands of pages of police reports and other documents related to their investigation into Susan Cox Powell's disappearance.

In their requests for wiretaps in 2011, West Valley police wrote about the status of their investigation into Josh Powell, who is suspected of killing his wife, and Steven Powell, who was suspected of obstructing justice.

Investigators wrote that they needed the wiretaps because "normal investigative procedures have been tried and failed, have met with limited success, or reasonably appear unlikely to succeed if tried, or are too dangerous to meet the specified objectives of this criminal investigation."

At that time, the focus of the investigation was on both Josh and Steven Powell, according to court documents. Michael Powell, Josh's brother, was not a focus of the wiretaps, but police this week said they believe he had "intimate involvement" in his sister-in-law's disappearance.

Susan Powell disappeared in December of 2009. Almost immediately after she was reported missing, investigators noted that Josh Powell was giving "contradictory and unreasonable" answers to police questions and could not answer any question in detail.

"For the first 36 hours after his wife has disappeared, J. Powell never inquires about her welfare, never asks what police are doing to locate her, never offers any help or assistance to law enforcement," a search warrant states.

He also had spent the night cleaning the minivan he used to allegedly take his young sons camping the night his wife disappeared, police wrote.

Watching Josh

West Valley police conducted surveillance on Josh Powell shortly after his wife disappeared and even followed him to a strip club in Wendover, Nev., according to an affidavit requesting a wiretap. During the drive, officers observed Powell "perform so many maneuvers designed to detect or thwart surveillance that law enforcement had to use an airplane to continue observing his actions," an affidavit states.

Police noted that both Steven and Josh Powell acted as if they were constantly being watched.

Trash that Josh Powell had thrown away from his West Valley house was found in other trash cans. A check of Josh Powell's computer history showed he spent time looking at weather conditions and maps before allegedly taking his sons on that camping trip to Tooele County during a snowstorm.

In talking about his criminal history, West Valley police noted that Powell had been "involuntarily committed to a psychiatric hospital" in 2006 following a domestic violence incident at his family's home in Puyallup, Wash.

According to the wiretap order, detectives were limited to intercepting calls "relating to the kidnapping and/or murder of Susan Marie Powell, or the obstruction of said investigation" and may include calls "pertaining to the solicitation, requesting, commanding, encouraging, arranging, or intentionally aiding" of the crime.

By the time investigators had asked for the wiretaps in August of 2011, "the geographical area searched in this case (was) approximately the size of Switzerland," court records state. Twenty-one search warrants had been served at that time, more than 99 subpoenas had been issued and more than 800 potential witnesses interviewed.

Investigators wrote at the time that they believed the use of a grand jury in the case would not result in "any new information or evidence," an affidavit states.

At one time, police also considered using a female undercover agent to "initiate an acquaintance relationship" with Josh Powell in an attempt to gather information from him. But it was determined that Powell's movements were "unpredictable or nonexistent to the point that a seemingly innocuous meeting is not possible," according to an affidavit.

Investigators noted that there were times after Josh Powell moved back to Washington that he didn't leave his Puyallup residence for days.

Wiretaps

When talking about their "case strategy" for using the wiretap, police focused on three phones — two cellphones used by Josh Powell and one by Steven Powell — even though two of the phones were registered in Alina Powell's name, according to the affidavit.

Investigators then came up with ways to try and prompt the Powells to use their cellphones and talk about the case, including using Chuck Cox, Susan Powell's father, and the media.

Cox placed banners and fliers all around his hometown of Puyallup, where Steven Powell also lived.

"(The West Valley detective) believes that this overt display of material within (Steven Powell's) residential area … can incite evidentiary conversations between (Josh and Steven) related to Susan Powell's disappearance," investigators wrote.

West Valley police then planned on "a release of information" to the media that "the investigation has revealed new areas of interest to be searched based on evidence obtained through forensic testing," the court documents state.

The affidavit for the wiretaps was signed Aug. 9, 2011. On Aug. 18, 2011, West Valley police announced to the media that a search would be taking place in Ely, Nev. At the time, police made a vague reference to the media that the search was based on "information from a prior search warrant."

West Valley police said this week, however, that all of the areas they searched in the case were legitimately chosen based on evidence that was collected and were not wild goose chases.

Police were required to update the court about the use of wiretaps after 10, 20 and 30 days. Information about what was specifically discussed in those intercepted conversations was not revealed in the court documents.

The 30-day report on Steven Powell's cellphone showed that police had intercepted 244 calls and flagged 37 of them as "pertinent." One of Josh Powell's cellphones had 194 intercepted calls with 30 flagged as "pertinent," according to court records. The other had 221 intercepted calls, as of the 30-day report, with 18 flagged as "pertinent."

After law enforcers filed for a 10-day extension on the wiretap, the number of calls on Steven Powell's phone was recorded at 252, with 61 being called pertinent. Josh Powell's phones on the 10-day extension showed 220 intercepted calls on one phone and 403 on the other, with 42 and 62 being called "pertinent," according to court records.

Operation Puyallup

Another wire was used early in the case in January of 2010, about a month after Susan Powell disappeared. Jennifer Graves and her husband agreed to go to her father Steven Powell's house in Puyallup, where Josh Powell had recently moved. She agreed to wear a hidden microphone and confront her brother, whom she believed was involved in Susan Powell's disappearance. A team of 16 officers was waiting outside the house nearby. The effort was called "Operation Puyallup."

After entering the house, Graves eventually got Josh Powell alone and encouraged him to take a plea bargain, a police report states.

"Don't be ridiculous, I haven't done anything," he responded. Pressed about an unexplained trip he took in a rental car and about details the day his wife disappeared, Josh Powell told his sister his attorney had advised him not to discuss the case.

Steven Powell then opened the door and in a "very pushy" manner told Josh he needed to go pick up a birthday cake. "It sounded and appeared that Steven had an idea of what Jennifer was doing and he was trying to help Josh get away from the situation," the report states.

"Where did you put her?" Graves then asked her brother.

Josh Powell responded, "I can't believe you're saying that."

Weeping, Graves stated, "You were cleaning the house." Josh Powell didn't answer but remained quiet. He then stated, "I have to go get a cake."

After Josh walked out, Graves told her father she thought it was obvious her brother was responsible for Susan's disappearance. Steven Powell responded that she had "a problem seeing reality." He then implied that a family in Utah had kidnapped Susan.

An argument ensued and Graves and her husband left the home. They returned to police, and a weeping Graves told them: "(Josh Powell) killed her. She's not alive."

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SALT LAKE CITY — Desperate to prove their case that Josh Powell kidnapped and killed his wife, Susan, police asked a judge for permission to wiretap his phones.
A judge on Friday released the sealed affidavits filed by police in the Susan Cox Powell investigation after FOX 13 filed a motion in Salt Lake City’s 3rd District Court to have remaining records in the now-suspended case unsealed. Earlier this week, West Valley City police released more than 30,000 pages of their investigative files.
The 2011 documents given to FOX 13 on Friday reveal the steps police took to try to link Josh Powell to his wife’s disappearance, alongside his father, Steven.
“There is probable cause to believe that (Josh) Powell was instrumental in the facilitating of the aggravated kidnapping of his wife, Susan Powell, her probable murder, and in the obstruction of the criminal law enforcement investigation into her disappearance,” a Drug Enforcement Administration agent wrote, adding that “there is probable cause to believe that (Steven) Powell was and is instrumental in the obstruction of the criminal law enforcement investigation into Susan Powell’s disappearance.”
In explaining to the judge why they were seeking to tap the phones of Josh Powell and his father (and later his sister, Alina), police explained that they had exhausted all other avenues in the missing persons case. They had conducted numerous searches, interviewed 849 people, kept the family under surveillance, and tried to utilize informants and undercover work — to no avail.
The documents reveal many new details about their investigation:
After Susan vanished on Dec. 7, 2009, police said family members were trying to reach Josh. His sister, Jennifer Graves, finally reached him and asked why he didn’t go to work. The affidavit said Josh Powell initially told her he did go to work, then said he went camping with the boys and got caught in a snowstorm. “What else do you know?” the affidavit said he asked her.
Josh Powell cooked a pancake dinner on Dec. 6, “but shortly after Susan became suddenly tired and said she was going to lie down.”
Josh Powell changed his story in interviews with West Valley City police and had “difficulty answering in any sensible manner.”
A search of Josh Powell’s minivan revealed metal, wires and sheetrock that had been burned and stuffed into a trash bag. Police believed “this was an attempt to destroy something using high heat by (Josh) Powell, in between the time he was first interviewed after returning from the camping trip, and when he was asked to respond for a second interview.”
In an interview with police on Dec. 8, 4-year-old Charlie Powell said he had “gone camping” with his “dad, mom and little brother.”
Josh Powell’s cell phone records reveal no use at all for 27 hours from the time of the supposed camping trip and the 18 hour time period that he rented a car and put more than 800 miles on it.
Police put a GPS tracker on Josh Powell’s minivan four days after Susan disappeared. They followed him from West Valley City to a Wendover, Nev., strip club. During the return trip, detectives claim he took evasive action to try to avoid surveillance. DEA agents had an airplane in the sky tailing him, too.
Josh Powell canceled all of his wife’s health care appointments, daycare and retirement accounts.
Police could not decrypt a lot of information on Josh Powell’s computers, but found some information about her benefits from a previous employer, a reference to obtaining a storage computer, maps of Ely, Nev., as well as other places.
Police claim they also found “cartoon altered child pornography” on a laptop found in the master bedroom.
Police were contacted by a woman who claimed she had a sexual relationship with Josh Powell (they later said she was not cooperative). Police also said they had a tip that Josh Powell had hired an escort, but could not corroborate it.
Detectives declared Steven Powell’s interview with police “disturbing,” and believed he could be “complicit in assisting (Josh) Powell thwart or obstruct the police investigation of the disappearance of Susan Powell.” In that interview, he detailed his sexual obsession with Susan Cox Powell, police write in the affidavit.
Police believed Josh Powell was evasive and likely responsible for his wife’s disappearance and covering it up.
“During police interaction with (Josh) Powell for the first 36 hours after his wife has disappeared, (Josh) Powell never inquires about her welfare, never asks what police are doing to locate her, never offers any help or assistance with law enforcement,” police wrote.
“And the first night after her disappearance instead of doing anything to find or help find her himself, his neighbors observe him thoroughly cleaning his van for most of the night.”
Adding to their suspicions were comments Josh Powell allegedly made to Susan’s friends and co-workers.
“(Josh) Powell was obsessed with getting away with murder and had expressed so directly” to one woman, police wrote in the affidavit. “(Josh) Powell commented to her about how Mark Hacking screwed up in disposing of his wife’s body, and the suspect needs to stick as close to the truth as possible and not tell too many lies.”
Another friend of Susan’s said that Powell said at a Christmas party that “the way to get rid of a body was to put it in a mineshaft, as police would be unwilling to search an unstable mine.”
Ultimately, police said they needed the wiretaps because they had exhausted other means of extracting information. The DEA agent who wrote the affidavit said they had decided against seeking a grand jury.
“To call one of the target subjects as a witness would require a grant of immunity which would foreclose prosecution of the most culpable persons involved in these serious crimes,” he wrote. “Without a grant of immunity, the target would invoke his Fifth Amendment privileges and regardless would most likely not produce truthful or reliable testimony.”
The documents reveal that police focused heavily on Josh Powell’s father, Steven, and whether he had a role in helping cover up Susan’s disappearance. In suspending their case earlier this week, West Valley City police said it did not appear that Steven Powell had a role.
They revealed on Monday they believed Michael Powell had a role in Susan’s disappearance, perhaps in helping his brother dispose of her body. Detectives conducted a search in Oregon for any sign of Susan, coming up empty-handed. Michael Powell committed suicide earlier this year, five days after police inquired about that Oregon property.
Susan Cox Powell’s father, Chuck Cox, told FOX 13 on Friday night that he was planning to hand out fliers next week along I-84 from Pendleton, Ore., to Tremonton, Utah. Pendleton is where police said Michael Powell had a car destroyed shortly after Susan vanished; Tremonton is where police claim Josh Powell activated a new cell phone in the days after his wife disappeared.
“He met Michael somewhere up there and transferred the car, and I believe he found a place to dump her body,” Cox said.
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"Victory" WEST VALLEY CITY — After spending a year behind bars, Steven Powell's feelings toward Chuck Cox, the West Valley Police Department, and the LDS Church apparently remain sour.

(Respectfully snipped for space)

Just what we need, another pervert living out of his van. Look out, kids.

Family of missing mom Susan Powell launches 400-mile search
The Associated Press
First Published 4 hours ago • Updated 4 hours ago
The father of missing Utah mom Susan Powell launched his own search this week after police said the case is at a standstill because they’ve run out of tips.

Susan’s father Chuck Cox announced on the website for the nonprofit Susan Cox Powell Foundation that he was starting a search Tuesday on a 400-mile stretch of Interstate 84 from Pendleton, Ore. to Tremonton in northern Utah.

Susan Powell disappeared in 2009 and has never been found.

Her husband killed their two sons and himself in February 2012. His brother Michael Powell, suspected of helping get rid of Susan Powell’s body, killed himself a year later.

Police say Michael Powell’s car was left at an Oregon junk yard weeks after Susan’s disappearance. Authorities spent two days earlier this month searching a rural Oregon property for her remains.

Cox is traveling with a private investigator, handing out flyers and speaking to local law enforcement and residents to see if they remember anything that might produce new leads.

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Hope they tested that car for forensic evidence linking it back to Susan or her remains. But this LE group seems to really not have their shit together so I don't expect much, if anything at all, from them. JMO

And WHY should poor, beleaguered grandfather and father Chuck Cox be leading the way for this search? Why doesn't LE take this over so this poor man doesn't have to kill himself trying to find his daughters remains. So sad, actually. Dunno how freaked I would be if I had lost Robbi, plus her remains. Horrifying thought. And why didn't LE search this area Chuck Cox has in mind back then, huh? Certainly they didn't entertain for one second that any part of Josh's stupid excuses and stories about the night Susan disappeared????

June 11, 2013

One thing became clear after Josh Powell’s first conversation with police: He was a liar.

The first fib came moments after Powell drove up to his West Valley City home in the early evening of Dec. 7, 2009. A detective walked up to Powell’s blue minivan and asked why he had not answered his cellphone earlier, as family, friends and police launched a frantic search for him, his wife, Susan Cox Powell, and their two sons. Powell, who rolled down the vehicle’s passenger-side window to speak with Detective Ellis Maxwell, responded that he had turned off the device to conserve its battery since he had not brought along a charger when he left home after midnight to go camping in Utah’s West Desert. But Maxwell had a clear view of the van’s console, where he saw Powell’s cellphone plugged into a charger.

What Charlie Powell told police

A West Valley City detective interviewed Charlie Powell, then 4, on Dec. 8, 2009.

An affidavit released by Utah’s 3rd District Court contains a more complete account of what Charlie said in that interview, which took place as West Valley City Detective Ellis Maxwell was questioning Josh Powell, the boy’s father.

Asked what they had done the night before, the boy said the family had gone camping, ate s’mores and visited a dinosaur park.

“When asked what he did while camping, he stated he saw flowers, built a fire, and got to the camping spot by airplane,” the court affidavit states. The boy also said they traveled home by airplane.

The investigator then asked who had come back from camping and Charlie said his mom had stayed there, where “the pretty flowers and crystals are.” He told the investigator the crystals looked like “red berries,” which was also where “the lizards and snakes are.”

In two interviews — one that evening, the second a day later — Powell was evasive, made disjointed and sometimes-contradictory statements and appeared remarkably unconcerned about where his missing wife might be. Some parts of his story checked out. But thousands of investigative documents, released last month after police closed the case, show that within a month of Susan’s disappearance, detectives were highly suspicious of Powell as they noted discrepancies in his story, tracked his strange behavior and cataloged the couple’s marital troubles.

"It appears they had probable cause within the first few days, if not the first few weeks," argued Seattle attorney Anne Bremner, who represents Chuck and Judy Cox, Susan’s parents.

Not so, said West Valley City Police Sgt. Mike Powell, who points out the initial investigation began as a missing-person case and that it’s "not a crime for someone to leave their husband."

"There were possible criminal overtones from the beginning, but you can’t put someone in jail on assumptions," said Mike Powell, who is not related to the family. "You have to have solid information to be able to put someone in jail and be able to keep them there."

Conflicting stories • Police found two things to be initially suspicious when they broke into the Powell home on Sarah Circle that Monday morning after family and friends reported they were unable to locate the couple: The stereo was loudly playing a local radio station, and Susan’s purse, with her keys, was in the master bedroom.

Neither had shown up at work and calls to the couple’s cellphones went straight to voice mail for much of the day.

It was not until that afternoon that a family friend reached Powell on his cellphone and alerted him his wife was missing and police were at his home. Powell sat down with police for his first interview four hours later and gave vague, meandering answers to many questions about the previous day’s events and his decision to take the couple’s two sons camping in the middle of the night.

Powell said Susan took a nap after he served a pancake brunch and awoke around 6:30 p.m. The family ate a hot dog dinner, he said, watched "Santa Claus 3" and then he read the boys a story and put them to bed.

When Maxwell asked what time he put the children to bed, Powell said, "Well, no wait, no, that’s not what happened!"

Powell then said Braden, who was 2, had already gone to sleep, cuddling with his mom, when he took his son Charlie sledding at Whittier Elementary, leaving the house sometime between 7 p.m. and 8 p.m.

That version of events was at odds with what JoVonna Owings, a family friend who had spent Sunday afternoon at the Powell home, had told police earlier on Monday. Owings said she left the home around 5 p.m., after Susan lay down for a nap, and Powell left the home at the same time to take both boys sledding; she told police she watched Powell drive off.

Powell told Maxwell he returned home from sledding about 8:30 p.m., which fits with the account of a neighbor who saw Powell back his van into the garage at that time.

Powell said he read Charlie, who was 4, a story and put him to bed. He cleaned a couch at Susan’s request and then they watched the movie.

Afterward, they talked for a couple of minutes, Powell said, about his plan to take the boys camping to test a newly purchased generator and cook "some morning s’mores." Susan, who had a "mad look" on her face, he said, went to bed about 12:30 a.m.

Cell phone messages • Powell said he put his sleeping sons in the minivan and left home between 1:30 a.m. and 2 a.m., driving to Tooele and then heading about 20 miles south on the Pony Express Trail. He said he drove about a mile on a side road and pulled over about 3:30 a.m. or 4 a.m., set up a generator to run a heater and a humidifier and went to sleep inside the van.

Powell told the detective he thought it was Sunday and only realized later — either while driving in a snowstorm to the desert or later that morning — that it was actually Monday.

Powell said he and the boys woke about 7 a.m. and he "drove them all over the place." At one point, he built a fire, cooked s’mores and then drove around some more. They saw a bunch of deer and also some sheep that were being herded by a dog and had to "wait for those to get off the road, which was pretty cool," Powell said.

That part of Powell’s story appeared to check out. On Dec. 9, 2009, investigators flew over the West Desert in a Utah Highway Patrol helicopter, searching for signs of a campfire or other evidence that might validate Powell’s story. Some miles northwest of Simpson Springs, they spotted a sheepherder’s camp. They landed and spoke to a sheepherder who told them he had seen a minivan in the area twice Monday, traveling to and from Simpson Springs.

Powell told detectives he headed back to the Salt Lake Valley around 2 p.m., driving through Lehi, where he stopped at a self-serve car wash and then a McDonald’s to get the boys something to eat. Powell claimed he tried to reach his wife as soon as he got back into cellphone range, "when I was getting onto the freeway."

Powell said he couldn’t remember if Susan answered or if the phone rang or went straight to voice mail. He also told Maxwell he had no idea where his wife’s cellphone was.

It didn’t take police long to solve that mystery, however.

At the end of his interview Monday evening, Powell agreed to let investigators search his minivan. They found Susan’s cellphone in the front console; they later discovered the SIM card that holds data was missing.

A startled Powell couldn’t immediately explain why it was there, first suggesting that perhaps Susan had left it in the car. In a second interview, on Tuesday, Powell told Maxwell he had looked up a number on the phone Sunday and absent-mindedly put his wife’s cellphone in his pocket.

"And once I realized it was there, I wasn’t home," he said. "I instinctively just put it in the tray [in the van] but I don’t even think about it when I’m camping."

Powell said he received a call from Owings "sometime later" after he left a message for his wife.

But that wasn’t true.

Owings had called Powell before he called Susan, telling him that his wife was missing and police were looking for him. Powell had then checked his voice mail, undoubtedly discovering numerous messages from family and police. He then called Susan’s phone and left this message:

"Hello, Susan. We are on our way back and I can’t believe that somehow my brain missed a day," he said. "I thought today was Sunday. That was really, really stupid. But, anyway, hopefully, you got to work OK. Give me a call. I plan on picking you up unless you have plans after work or whatever. So, anyway, we ran into every conceivable problem and, anyway, it was kind of a nightmare. But, oh well, I mean, there was some fun out of this. Alright, I’ll talk to you later, ’K, bye."

About two hours later, Powell received a call from Jennifer Graves, his sister, who also told him Susan had never arrived at work that day. Afterward, Powell, who was parked in the lot outside his wife’s office building, left a second message on Susan’s cellphone:

"Hello, I’m out here, so I’m just waiting for ya. I am in front. OK, talk to you soon, bye."

—

"She didn’t go with us" • During his first interview, Powell had great difficulty providing any useful information about his wife.

He couldn’t recall what Susan was wearing the last time he saw her beyond "just a crappy old shirt." He couldn’t come up with names of his wife’s best friends. Pressed for ideas on where to search for his wife, Powell insisted Susan would have gone to work that morning.

"Alright, but she didn’t go to work, dude!" Maxwell responded.

"I mean, I think she would try to go to work," Powell said.

Powell showed up four hours late Tuesday for his second interview with police and, after lengthy questioning, Maxwell told Powell he was going to read his Miranda rights because he wanted to ask again about Susan’s cellphone and "we need to eliminate you as being a person of interest." Maxwell also told Powell that he would not be allowed back into his home or to take his car.

Powell told the detective he wanted to have a few days to ponder being interviewed under oath.

"Your wife is missing, Josh, and you want to think about it for a couple days?" Maxwell asked.
Maxwell stepped out of the room and when he came back, he had news for Powell: He now planned to detain him.

"Your children are telling our detectives that mom went with you guys last night and that she didn’t come back," Maxwell said.

What Charlie Powell told police

A West Valley City detective interviewed Charlie Powell, then 4, on Dec. 8, 2009.

An affidavit released by Utah’s 3rd District Court contains a more complete account of what Charlie said in that interview, which took place as West Valley City Detective Ellis Maxwell was questioning Josh Powell, the boy’s father.

Asked what they had done the night before, the boy said the family had gone camping, ate s’mores and visited a dinosaur park.

“When asked what he did while camping, he stated he saw flowers, built a fire, and got to the camping spot by airplane,” the court affidavit states. The boy also said they traveled home by airplane.

The investigator then asked who had come back from camping and Charlie said his mom had stayed there, where “the pretty flowers and crystals are.” He told the investigator the crystals looked like “red berries,” which was also where “the lizards and snakes are.”

"She did not go with us," Powell responded. "They know that she didn’t go with us."

A second detective told Powell that police pay attention to what kids say because "they’re honest and they never lie. They don’t make things up."

"No, she was not with us," Powell said. "I didn’t leave her at the Pony Express. I didn’t just take her out and drop her off or even do anything."

In the end, Maxwell opted not to detain Powell, who had at that point said he wanted a lawyer. Powell’s perplexing behavior continued during the next few days: He rented a car and put 807 miles on it; after reclaiming his van, he drove to Wendover and then spent two hours parked at a gravel pit in Clive.

But what really struck detectives who met with Powell and investigated Susan’s disappearance is this: Powell never asked what police were doing to locate his wife.

"Not one time," Maxwell wrote in his case notes.

"It’s the one-year anniversary from when Susan became missing," Maxwell wrote Dec. 7, 2010. "Nothing from Susan Powell. Up this point, Josh Powell has never inquired the status of the investigation with any law enforcement."
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^
LE blew it plain and simple. If they hadn't those boys would still be alive. MOO.

Owings had called Powell before he called Susan, telling him that his wife was missing and police were looking for him. Powell had then checked his voice mail, undoubtedly discovering numerous messages from family and police. He then called Susan’s phone and left this message:

"Hello, Susan. We are on our way back and I can’t believe that somehow my brain missed a day," he said. "I thought today was Sunday. That was really, really stupid. But, anyway, hopefully, you got to work OK. Give me a call. I plan on picking you up unless you have plans after work or whatever. So, anyway, we ran into every conceivable problem and, anyway, it was kind of a nightmare. But, oh well, I mean, there was some fun out of this. Alright, I’ll talk to you later, ’K, bye."

About two hours later, Powell received a call from Jennifer Graves, his sister, who also told him Susan had never arrived at work that day. Afterward, Powell, who was parked in the lot outside his wife’s office building, left a second message on Susan’s cellphone:

"Hello, I’m out here, so I’m just waiting for ya. I am in front. OK, talk to you soon, bye."

This is all over again. Covering his stupid ass by leaving her voicemails. Going into the infamous 'fog' (we need a smilie for that!) not remembering what she had on (a crappy shirt??) or the names of her friends or that he had her cell phone and wow..guess that SIM card crawled out of her phone on it's own! And, really? He forgot his charger? But, LE can see it plugged into the car? forgot her charger and then miraculously found it under the driver's seat.

In the end, Maxwell opted not to detain Powell,

"IN THE END" speaks Volumes. In the end, that abusive lying psychopath took his childrens lives and his own. IN THE END..no Susan. No children. Perv step father in the clink for porn. Psycho's brother commits suicide.

Maxwell should be SHOT!

Did they ever Find the SIN SIM card? Did they actually FLY like those darling boys said? Are there any records of this POS and his son's flying on a commercial jet? Why would both boys say they flew? Were they coerced by the murdering, lying psychopath arsonist?

WEST VALLEY CITY — West Valley City detectives faced a difficult decision the day after Susan Cox Powell disappeared: should they arrest her husband, Josh Powell or allow him to walk?

Josh Powell had showed fear, boredom and confusion during his first interviews with police.

"I actually did call my attorneys and they said I should definitely have an attorney," Powell says in one of the recordings obtained exclusively by KSL.

"Do you feel like you're under arrest?" a detective asks.

"I don't know," Powell says between sobs. "I didn't even think it was that, it didn't even sink in yesterday but I don't know where she's at and she ain't back yet."

Ultimately, Powell left the West Valley City Police Department headquarters a free man on Dec. 8, 2009, following that marathon interview. It had very nearly concluded with his arrest.

"I think the reason in Josh Powell's case we think a murder took place is because he accomplished two further murders of his children," former Salt Lake County prosecutor Kent Morgan said. "If he did that, what's the explanation and where did Mrs. Powell go?"

Detectives still do not know where Susan Cox Powell went. She was last seen Dec. 6, 2009. Her mother reported her missing the following day after she failed to show up for work.

Josh Powell and the couple's sons, Charlie and Braden, were also not at home when officers arrived at the family home Dec. 7 to investigate. He arrived later that afternoon, expressing muted surprise at learning Susan was missing. He told police he had taken the boys out at 1 or 2 a.m. that morning to cook s'mores and test a generator along the Pony Express trail in Utah's west desert.

The detectives were immediately skeptical. Publicly, he wasn't a suspect, but police unofficially suspected his involvement. Still, they lacked key physical evidence that could tie him to his wife's mysterious disappearance. Chief among that evidence was Susan's body, or even an indication that she had been physically harmed. Leads poured in, none of them particularly fruitful.

The video and audio recordings of those interviews, obtained exclusively by KSL through an open records request this week, reveal detectives were frustrated by Josh's unwillingness to provide specifics.

In the Dec. 7 interview, the detective chided Josh for speaking without saying anything useful.

"You're kind of being helpful but you're not being helpful," the detective said. Josh was unable or unwilling to provide the detective with names of his wife's close personal friends. "I've been married and I can tell you who my wife's closest friends are."

During both interviews, Josh took long pauses before answering direct questions. He only became animated when discussing topics such as his dislike for his mother-in-law or how well his minivan handled on the desert's dirt trails.

At one point, Powell bragged about being able to feed his family for less than five dollars at Del Taco. Police asked Josh where they should look for his wife. He suggested beauty supply stores. He never expressed urgency or concern about what police were doing to find his wife.

When questioning honed in on his relationship with Susan, their family life or her associations with others outside the house, Josh became vague. He struggled to speak with specificity about conversations with his mother or sister only hours after they took place. Yet, one detective noted Josh could vividly recall pancake ingredients from a breakfast prepared days earlier.

Experts who have viewed the recordings with KSL agree the circumstances of Susan's disappearance gave police good reason to both speak with and suspect Josh.

"The initial goal is to get a confession," said Russell Dean, assistant professor of criminal justice at Weber State University. "Short of a confession, I want to get all the information that that person has about the crime, all the information that that person may know about the victim. And I want them to tell me a story."

The story Josh told detectives proved tedious, though. His answers were evasive and incomplete. The lead detective repeatedly told Josh he was not under arrest and could leave at any time.

"If you don't want to talk…" the detective said.

"Then what?" Powell asked.

"Then I guess you can leave," the detective replied. "I mean, you could leave any time, anyways."

"I, yeah, I mean let me think about it for a couple days," Josh said.

"Your wife is missing Josh, and you want to think about it for a couple days?"

"Yeah but… I've already answered everything," Josh said.

In fact, Powell had answered very little. After hours of fruitless questioning on Dec. 8, the detectives took a different approach. They repeatedly attempted to read Powell his Miranda rights.

Dean said that would have allowed for more direct questions and made the answers admissible in court.

"If you're talking to somebody and you get to a point where you feel the physical evidence, the witness statements and everything that you have points to this individual as the person responsible for committing the crime or some other involvement, then you'd better weigh in on whether or not you want to continue that interrogation without advising that person of their rights," he said.

It took detectives several tries to get Powell to even acknowledge his rights. Once he confirmed that he understood, Josh did not immediately invoke his right to have an attorney present. At more than one point, he stood to leave only to be talked back into his chair by police. They did not, however, detain him until a critical moment.

Two detectives confronted Josh with a stunning revelation after more than three hours of questioning.

"One of our detectives just interviewed your children and your children are telling our detectives that mom went with you… and that she didn't come back," he said.

The boys, Charlie and Braden, had been present for the Dec. 7 interview, but that wasn't the case during the Dec. 8 interview. Morgan, the former prosecutor, believes the detectives might have been making a calculated bluff.

"I think this was designed to evoke some sort of response. It didn't work. Josh Powell looks very clearly, cleanly and with good conscience saying ‘no, she wasn't'," Morgan said.

The video reveals Josh indeed remained stone-faced while denying the idea outright.

"If they said she was with us, they know that's not true," he said.

One of the detectives pressed Josh, asking if his children lie. Powell replied that sometimes they do.

Dean, who spent 37 years as a CSI expert, said that might have been a turning point for Powell.

"If that didn't happen, and you as a police officer said, ‘We know for sure that it happened'… Then he's going to look at you and say, ‘You're fishing for information, and I'm glad I didn't tell you anything before this.'"

Josh's answers at last became direct when the detectives informed him he was being "detained" and that they would be taking his mobile phone as evidence.

Related:
Psychologist says documents show Powell made 'admission of guilt'
Recently released documents on the Susan Powell case suggest her husband, Josh Powell, was very controlling at times. One document even shows that a psychologist thought he hinted at an admission of guilt.
"OK, but I do want the lawyer, ‘cause at this point I definitely want a lawyer," Powell said.

Police offered to call one on his behalf, then left the interrogation room while instructing Josh to remain behind. The lead detective returned nearly five minutes later and informed Powell he could, in fact, leave.

"That would suggest to me that they've gone to a superior and said, ‘This is what we've got, should we book him in jail'?" Morgan said. "The answer was, ‘No, that's not enough.' "

The investigative documents released by West Valley City in May reveal police began an intensive surveillance program targeting Josh in the days immediately after the interview. They used a GPS tracker and DEA aircraft to follow his minivan with court approval. When Josh moved from Utah to his father Steven Powell's home in Washington state, detectives followed him. They set up video recording devices outside the home, tracking the comings and goings of both Josh and Steven Powell.

Then, on Feb. 5, 2012, the unthinkable happened: Josh Powell killed himself and his two sons in a house fire in Graham, Wash.

Dean believes people should not judge West Valley City police nor blame them for the deaths of Charlie and Braden Powell.

"There's public opinion that goes both ways on this, that the police goofed up and they should have arrested him, and there's a lot of people that have the other thought that ‘hey, they did everything they could do to this point,'" Dean said. "I'm not saying right, wrong or indifferent. But I'm saying, let's temper our thoughts and think of the choice of words we use about the job the authorities did on that… Those people wanted to solve that case, they wanted to recover (Susan) alive, if possible."

Susan has never been found.

The West Valley City Police Department have not yet responded to repeated requests for comment.
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WEST VALLEY CITY – As he sat in a chair in a corner of an interview room waiting for a detective to come in and talk to him about his missing wife, Josh Powell stared at his hands and cried.
He’d pestered detectives to take pictures of the cuts, even though they didn’t seem too interested in them. Later, he’d accuse them of suggesting they were defensive wounds.
“Do you feel like you’re under arrest?” a detective asked him as the interview got under way.
“I don’t know,” he cried. “I didn’t even think it was that. I don’t know where she’s at and she ain’t back yet.”
The West Valley City Police Department released nearly four hours of videotaped police interrogations to FOX 13 on Wednesday, under a public records request. Throughout the interview, police try to pin a clearly anxious Powell down about details surrounding his whereabouts and what may have happened to Susan Cox Powell.
Powell was cagey.
“You guys are already trying to trap me on little things,” he told a detective.
Detective Ellis Maxwell asked Powell why he was so scared of them, since they are trying to solve a missing persons case.
“I just want to talk, but I’m getting scared,” Powell said.
“Well, if you haven’t done nothing wrong, if you haven’t done anything wrong, Josh, if you didn’t do anything wrong, there’s nothing to be scared about,” Maxwell replied.
“Well, I’m scared about the possibilities,” Powell said.
“OK.”
“Of what’s happened,” Powell blurted out.
As the interview progresses, Powell offers his version of events. He pauses for lengthy periods of time. At some points, he says he simply can’t remember details.
He claims he took their two sons camping in the midst of a snowstorm in Utah’s West Desert, returning to phone calls from anxious family members worried for the family’s safety.
“I was like, ‘OK, that’s cool. We’re found, so quit obsessing,’” Powell recalled to detectives. “Then I was going to pick up Susan, and waiting for her and she didn’t come down, and about the time I was trying to decide what to do next, it was either my mom or my sister called me.”
Family and friends had already called West Valley City Police on Dec. 7, 2009, reporting the entire family missing. Police broke into the Powell home to find it empty. Susan’s purse was on a dresser in their room, a pair of fans were blowing on the couch. In the interview, Powell told detectives he’d cleaned the couch at Susan’s insistence. He was upset with police for breaking a window to find the family.
As the interview progresses, detectives scrutinized Powell’s version of events. He accused police of trying to entrap him. Detective Maxwell said they were trying to get information about Susan that could help find the missing woman.
“The closest people to a person is always the top suspect,” Powell told detectives.
Eventually, Powell expressed an interest in leaving. Maxwell said he would read him his Miranda rights before proceeding with more questions. Powell became more insistent that he leave.
“Well, if you don’t want to talk…,” Maxwell told him.
“Then what?” Powell asked.
“Then I guess you can leave. I mean, you could leave any time, anyways.”
“I, yeah. I mean, let me think about it for a couple of days, and…”
“Your wife is missing, Josh,” Maxwell insisted.
“Yeah, but…”
“And you want to think about it for a couple of days?”
“I’ve already answered everything. I’ve told I would answer everything. I don’t understand why…”
Just as Powell had stood to leave, another detective enters the room and talks to him. Then Maxwell returns to the room and tells him to sit down.
“One of our detectives just interviewed your children, and your children are telling our detectives that mom went with you guys last night,” Maxwell told Powell. “She didn’t come back.”
Powell insisted his children were not telling the truth.
“There is nothing that happened,” he said. “She was not with us, and if my kids said that…”
“So your kids lie then? Your kids lie?” one detective asked Powell.
“Sometimes they do. I mean, if they said that she was with us, they know that’s not true, and if they say that she was with us, then I guess that would put her out on the Pony Express (Trail).”
“That’s my concern,” the detective told Powell. “That’s our concern.”
Powell asked for an attorney. After police took his phone and left the room, he sat alone for a few minutes. Then, detective Maxwell returned and said he was free to go.
It was immediately after that, police said, that Josh Powell rented a car and put more than 800 miles on it. Where he went remains a mystery. Powell ultimately killed himself and the couple’s children in an explosion and house fire last year.
In closing their active investigation into Susan Cox Powell’s disappearance last month, police revealed that they suspected Josh Powell had killed his wife — and that his brother, Michael Powell, had helped dispose of her body.
Police recently searched a property in Oregon that Josh Powell was familiar with, but had come up with nothing. Susan’s family has hired a private investigator and launched their own searches in hopes of finding her remains.
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