Susan Powell’s Father-in-Law: Journals, Convictions, and Death

Susan Powell’s father-in-law was Steven Powell, the father of her husband Josh, who took Josh and the couple’s two young sons into his Puyallup, Washington, home weeks after Susan vanished from Utah in December 2009. He was never charged in her disappearance, but a 2011 search of his house exposed thousands of pages of journals detailing a years-long sexual obsession with Susan, along with hidden recordings of her and of two young neighbor girls. He was convicted of voyeurism and, later, child pornography, served prison time on both, and died in July 2018 at a Tacoma hospital. Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer said afterward, “We believe a lot of secrets died with him.”¹

How He Ended Up at the Center of the Case

Susan Cox Powell, 28, was last seen at her West Valley City, Utah, home on December 6, 2009. Her husband Josh told police he had taken their sons, 4-year-old Charlie and 2-year-old Braden, camping in the Tooele County desert around midnight in freezing temperatures.² Josh was named a person of interest but never charged. Investigators found Susan’s blood inside the home, $1.5 million in life insurance policies on her life, and a letter she had left in a safe deposit box reading, “If I die, it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one.”³

In January 2010, less than a month after Susan disappeared, Josh moved with Charlie and Braden to his father Steven’s home in Puyallup, Washington. He said he wanted to escape media attention.⁴ The two boys spent nearly two years under Steven Powell’s roof.

The Journals and the Obsession With Susan

When investigators searched Steven Powell’s Puyallup home in August 2011, they were looking for seven personal journals Susan had kept during her life. Powell had gone on national television bragging about having them and refusing to turn them over, despite police calling them “integral” to the case.⁵

What they found was his writing, not hers. Investigators recovered 17 spiral notebooks containing more than 2,330 pages of Steven Powell’s own journals, begun in January 2003. In them, he described Susan as his “greatest problem” and “greatest pleasure.” He wrote about secretly recording her with a camcorder and watching the footage for sexual gratification, using a handheld mirror to spy on her under a bathroom door, stealing her underwear and used personal items, and secretly scanning her childhood journals to read at night. He said he had sold the house where he raised his children and bought a larger one hoping Susan would eventually marry him. He wrote more than 50 songs with her in mind.⁶

In December 2003 he told Susan directly that he was in love with her. She refused to speak to him for at least five months and asked Josh to cut off contact with his father.⁷ Powell acknowledged in his own writing that his behavior was “sick” and “might be considered sociopathic,” adding, “The fact is, I can hardly control myself when it comes to her.”⁶

After Susan disappeared, the journals went quiet. He resumed writing in May 2010: “I am still so in love with her I can barely function.”⁶

The Voyeurism Conviction

The August 2011 search also turned up dozens of videotapes, CDs, and hard drives containing images of naked women and girls. Some of the material showed Susan Powell, taken without her knowledge. Some showed two young neighbor girls, ages 8 and 10, recorded through a bedroom window while they were in their bathroom.⁵

Powell was charged with 14 counts of voyeurism. His attorney challenged the search warrant, arguing police lacked probable cause to search the home for material beyond Susan’s journals. The Washington Court of Appeals disagreed, ruling that the affidavit supporting the warrant established a sufficient link between the investigation into Susan’s disappearance and the items police sought.⁸

A jury convicted him in May 2012. Pierce County Superior Court Judge Ronald Culpepper dismissed two of the 14 counts as redundant because they were based on the same recording sessions, leaving 12. Prosecutors sought 10 years; the defense wanted 12 months or less. Culpepper imposed what he called an “exceptional sentence” of 30 months in prison followed by 36 months of community supervision. From the bench he said, “There is something seriously wrong with Mr. Powell’s view of women in the world,” and described him as “leering” at two young girls “minding their own business.”⁹

The Child Pornography Conviction

A separate child pornography charge, based on the same photographs of the two young neighbors taken through a telephoto lens from his bedroom window, had a longer path. The trial judge initially dismissed it, ruling that the images did not meet the legal definition of “sexually explicit conduct.” The Washington Court of Appeals reversed that ruling, finding the judge had relied on outdated definitions that the legislature had since broadened. The charge was reinstated in October 2014, and Powell pleaded not guilty.¹⁰

A jury convicted him in July 2015. On August 21, 2015, he was sentenced to five years in prison. He offered no explanation or apology at sentencing.¹¹ Powell served his time at the Monroe Correctional Complex and was released on July 11, 2017. He was classified as a Level 2 sex offender and placed under community supervision until June 2019.¹²

What His Arrest Meant for Charlie and Braden

Steven Powell’s November 2011 arrest reshaped the custody of his grandsons. With his father facing sex crimes charges, and with police citing “concerning” images found on Josh’s own computer, Josh lost custody of Charlie and Braden. Susan’s parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, were granted temporary custody, and Josh was limited to weekly supervised visits.¹³

On February 1, 2012, a court ordered Josh to undergo psychosexual testing as a condition of regaining custody. Four days later, during a scheduled supervised visit at his Graham, Washington, home, he locked the social worker out, attacked the boys with a hatchet, poured gasoline through the house, and set off an explosion. All three died; the medical examiner determined the boys died of smoke inhalation.¹³ Detective Ellis Maxwell, the lead investigator on Susan’s case, characterized the murder-suicide as an “admission of guilt” regarding Susan’s death.⁴

What Investigators Believed He Knew

Steven Powell was never charged in connection with Susan’s disappearance. When West Valley City police announced in May 2013 that they were closing the active phase of the investigation, they said Steven may have had knowledge of the case but was not believed to be “directly involved” in the disappearance itself.¹⁴

The Powell family did not present a united front to investigators. Josh’s older sister, Jennifer Graves, contacted West Valley City police in January 2010 to say she believed Josh had killed Susan. She agreed to wear a police wire and confront Josh at Steven’s Puyallup home on January 22, 2010, an operation coordinated with the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office and requiring a warrant to bypass Washington’s two-party consent law. Josh refused to answer her questions, citing his attorney. Steven ordered Jennifer out of the house and disowned her.¹⁵ After her father’s death, Graves said, “He’s kind of taken that stuff to the grave unless he’s left physical evidence.”¹⁴

His Death

Steven Powell died on July 22, 2018, at St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Washington, from heart complications. Reports gave his age as either 67 or 68.¹¹⁶ He had been out of prison for roughly a year.

Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told reporters, “We believe a lot of secrets died with him,” and added, “We would have loved to get a dying declaration if there was one.”¹ Law enforcement confirmed his death did not change the status of Susan’s case. Officers had searched through his belongings over the years and found nothing that led to her.¹⁷

Susan Powell’s case remains classified as a cold case by the West Valley City Police Department, which continues to request tips from the public.¹⁸ Her body has never been found.

1
The News Tribune. Steven Powell Dies at Tacoma Hospital
2
Deseret News. Detailed Timeline of Events Surrounding Josh Powell, Susan Cox Powell
3
CBS News. Susan Powell’s Blood, Letter Detailing Her Fear of Husband Found at Family Utah Home
4
ABC News. Susan Powell Disappearance, Young Sons’ Horrific Death Haunts
5
ABC News. Josh Powell’s Father Steven Powell Released From Jail
6
The News Tribune. Steven Powell’s Journals Detail Obsession With Daughter-in-Law
7
Salt Lake Tribune. Steven Powell’s Journals Released
8
FindLaw. State v. Powell
9
KXLY. 30-Month Sentence for Steven Powell in Voyeurism Case
10
The News Tribune. Steven Powell Pleads Not Guilty to Reinstated Child Pornography Charge
11
Seattle Times. Steven Powell Sentenced to 5 Years in Child Porn Case
12
KOMO News. Steven Powell Released From Prison After Serving Sentence for Child Porn
13
ABC News. Josh Powell Killed Sons With Hatchet Before Fatal Explosion
14
Deseret News. Steven Powell Dies of Heart Attack at Washington Hospital, Police Say
15
The Cold Podcast. Episode 8: Wearing a Wire
16
Seattle Times. Steven Powell Dies at 68, a Year After Release From Prison
17
KJZZ. Father-in-Law of Missing Utah Woman, Grandfather to Her Slain Children, Dies
18
West Valley City. Missing Person – Susan Powell