Powell Family

Local Seattle news outlets are giving Pierce County (WA) DA Mark Lindquist air time to crow that he would have arrested Josh Powell based on evidence the cops in Utah had regarding Susan Cox Powell’s disappearance.

What I want to know is why he failed to protect the Powell boys.  Do not try to tell me that he didn’t know these kids were in mortal danger.

Charlie was a vocal eyewitness to his mother’s murder.  In what universe does a prosecutor fail to protect an eyewitness?  You don’t force an eyewitness to a Mafia hit to have lunch with the don.  Why didn’t he protect these kids from having supervised visits with their dad?  Washington State has one of the best Address Confidentiality Programs in the country.

In a nutshell, Mr. Lindquist knew or should have known that Susan had likely been killed in the living room of her home; Josh Powell had taken out $1.5 million in life insurance on his wife; Susan left a note in her safe deposit box predicting her death with chilling premonition; little Charlie Powell told a police officer and a Sunday School teacher that his mother was dead shortly after she disappeared; etc.  KIRO, the Seattle CBS affiliate, broke this story.  They reported that two people told authorities that Josh Powell had shared with them how easy it would be to kill someone and get away with it.

Ed Troyer, Pierce County’s spin master, was busy shifting blame to Utah this afternoon.  He claims Pierce County didn’t know about the evidence against Josh Powell.  Really?

The affidavit for the search warrant was signed by his own department’s Detective Gary Sanders.  It was an exceedingly high-profile case.  They used the evidence collected with the search warrant to arrest Steven Powell.  Now, they claim they didn’t know what was in the affidavit?  Oh, please.

Gary Sanders certainly knew about the evidence.  The attorney who prepared the papers knew.  The person who typed them up knew.  Judge Beverly Grant knew.  Yes, the court file was sealed, but several people knew or should have known that little Charlie Powell was at considerable risk because he was an eye witness to the probable homicide of his mother by his father.

Pierce County’s Search Warrant Evidence

This is the evidence detailed in the search warrant papers drafted by Lindquist’s own department.  The search warrant was signed by Pierce County Judge Beverly Grant on August 24, 2011 and unsealed this afternoon:

Steven Powell had a very strong obsession with his daughter-in-law, Susan Powell. . .images of Susan Powell that were taken secretly. . .in her underwear. . .image shows Susan Powell’s legs slightly open, exposing her underwear. . .photographs of Steven Powell masturbating to an image of Susan Powell on a television screen. [pages 2, 3, and 17]

. . .compact discs. . .50 plus images that appear to be child pornography.  [page 3]

. . .the affidavit and court order to be sealed in the court file. . .on August 24, 2001.  [page 10]

Gary Sanders, Pierce County Sheriff’s Department. . .was assigned to assist the West Valley Police Department, Utah, reference an aggravated kidnapping, homicide, obstruction of justice, that occurred in their jurisdiction. Detective Ellis Maxwell the lead detective advised that their person of interest, Joshua Powell, in the aggravated kidnapping and homicide of Susan Powell. . . [pages 11 and 13; emphasis added]

Susan Powell was last seen on Sunday, December 6, 2009; at 5:00 PM by family friend Jovanana Owings. . .at the Powell residence. . .[page 13]

Susan Powell became tired after eating a meal that was prepared by her husband Joshua Powell and Susan went to bed. . .Joshua. . .preparing to take. . .two small children sledding. . .  [page 13]

Susan Powell did not show up for work on Monday, December 7, 2009. . .[did not] call in sick. . .[page 13]

Joshua Powell told [Ms. Owings] that he. . .did not know that his wife had not shown up for work, however the Powell’s only have one car and he usually drives Susan Powell to work and picks her up from work according to interviews with friends and family. . .  [page 13]

Jennifer Graves, (sister to Joshua Powell), called Joshua. . .asked him where he had been. . .he was at work.  When Jennifer Graves told Joshua Powell that she knew he was lying, Joshua then changed his story telling her that he was camping. . .  [pages 13 and 14; emphasis added]

Joshua Powell told Detective Maxwell that he had to keep his mobile phone off to preserve the battery that he didn’t have a phone charger.  Detective Maxwell clearly saw Joshua Powell’s mobile phone sitting on the center consul [sic] plugged into the cigarette lighter phone charger.  [page 14]

. . .search his vehicle. . .Susan Powell’s cellular phone was located in the center front console. . .missing the digital sim card.  [page 14]

. . .search of the residence, two fans were set up and blowing into the living room sofa that appeared to have just been cleaned. . .Susan’s purse containing all of her  credit cards, cash, identification, and keys was located in the master bedroom undisturbed. . . [page 14]

Scott Hardman, who stated Joshua Powell once made comments about how to kill someone, dispose of the body and not get caught. . . [page 14; emphasis added]

Susan Powell had made comments about divorcing Joshua Powell. . .Susan. . .would have never left without her children. . .  [page 15]

Josh Powell was the beneficiary of several life insurance policies totalling [sic] one and a half million dollars on Susan Powell. . .  [page 15]

. . .safe deposit box was a folded letter [last will and testament dated June 28, 2008], stapled around the edges addressed to her family and friends specifically asking that it not be shown or given to her husband Joshua Powell, writing that she did not trust him. . .he has threatened to destroy her if they get divorced and her children will not have a mother and father. . .if Susan Powell dies it may not be an accident, even if it looks like one. . . [page 15; emphasis added]

Amber Hardman [told police that] Joshua Powell talked about how he liked to go camping in the west desert of Utah and the area is full of mine shafts, tunnels that are very unstable so you could dispose of someone and no one would search for the body. . .[page 15; emphasis added]

. . .search of the Powell’s residence. . .Blood evidence was located on the tile floor next to the carpet adjacent to the sofa.  Forensic tests of this blood indicated it was Susan Powell’s.  [page 15; emphasis added]

Joshua Powell provided a power of attorney to Wells Fargo Bank withdrawing Susan Powell’s IRA accounts on December 17, 2009.  (page 16]

A forensic interview was conducted with C.P. [Charlie] the son to Joshua and Susan Powell on December 8, 2009. . .his mommy went camping with them although she did not come back home with them and he did not know why. . .  [pages 16-17; emphasis added]

January 3, 2009, C.P. was attending church. . .C.P. stated with no emotion and no hesitation, “my mom is dead.”  [page 17; emphasis added]

. . .detectives recovered a journal belonging to Susan Powell from her place of employment, Wells Fargo. . .writes about Steven Powell. . .describing him as a. . .pedophile. . . [pages 17-18]

This is why I shine a bright spotlight on Pierce County, WA.  While I applaud KIRO for bringing this evidence to light, I am livid that they didn’t call Ed Troyer and Mark Lindquist on their obvious bullshit.  You can’t tell me that Mark Lindquist and Ed Troyer didn’t know about what was in the affidavits they used to obtain a search warrant of Steven Powell’s home.  You can’t tell me that these two seasoned law enforcement officials didn’t know those kids were in mortal danger.

Related posts: