PUYALLUP, Washington (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- New information that's slowly being released in the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell is shedding light on what many have long believed - that agencies were failing her sons by allowing them to remain in the care and custody of their father, Josh Powell, for nearly two years after she vanished.
Some say it is becoming clear that outrageous blunders by a number of agencies in Utah and Washington may have led to the deaths of Susan's young sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5. They were brutally murdered by their father last Sunday in what police call a double-murder-suicide.
An anonymous source said Friday, "Everyone has screwed this up from the beginning. These children were failed every step of the way right to the end with the blundered 911 call."
"The victim mentality that Alina [Josh Powell's sister] has - she gives the impression Josh just snapped and had a brief moment of insanity. That's not true," the anonymous source said. "He premeditated this, planned it out very carefully, and he succeeded. Josh did not snap - he miticulously planned this for days. He gave away all of the toys, got money out of the bank - he didn't just snap. I believe Alina has been a victim of Steve and her brothers. Someone needs to try to help her."
Many question why a man retained custody of his two young sons after a police department had not only named him a person of interest in his wife's disappearance, but had found images on his computer that depicted "incestuous" sex between parent and child back in 2009?
What other critical information did the police have that should have been shared with those who tried to protect the children in Washington State? Did police read Josh's mother, Terrica Powell's affidavit filed with Spokane County Superior Court on November 6, 1992:
"There have been times when I have been afraid of Steve and/or the boys because of their extremely hateful behavior. They group together and stir each other up to almost a fever pitch at times.
"Their vehemence has often flashed in their eyes and body language, making me feel threatened.
"John and Josh, our older sons, have pushed and hit me before. I can't say that this behavior is regular, but it has shown that they are capable of such a thing.
"One time, a couple of years ago, I felt extreme fear when Josh made a veiled threat at me with a butcher knife in his hand. His demeanor was menacing for a moment as he said, 'Don't push it, mom'. This was the result of me trying to get Josh to do the dishes.
"I was terrified and left the room to go downstairs ..."
Terrica also talked about an incident when Steve allowed her father to live in their home for several months, and suddenly decided to kick him out.
She said she called police and that:
"One of the officers was poised intently, watching Steve with wide eyes, as if he thought Steve could become violent at any moment. This officer did not take his eyes off Steve. Steve's eyes looked wild and his demeanor was almost as if he were under the influence of drugs or something. Yet, I don't think that he was."
In another declaration of the same date Terrica wrote:
"I have spent my life caring for them and loving them [John and Josh.] To see them becoming so hardened towards others and scornful of law and order is very frightening to me. I feel that they are being victimized by Steve's distorted teachings [against the Mormon religion.]
"I am hoping that they will be able to receive the kind of help they need in time to prevent them from destroying their lives, or others' lives around them."
Terrica talked about Steve's lack of respect for the law and said:
"With the kind of disrespect the kids have learned to have regarding laws, I worry about what they will do. It seems there is a sickness pervading my family and I have been powerless to stop it."
She wrote that she knew Steve was persuavive "in a most harmful, deliberate way."
"I really feel that Steve has become emotionally unstable and somehow distorted in his thinking."
Terrica was fighting for custody of her two younger children, Alina and Michael. She wrote:
"I want to prevent Michael and Alina from falling into the same kinds of patterns. I am requesting that our younger two children be placed in my care and not under the constant influence of both Steve and the older boys. I love my olders sons dearly but I also know that they are acting in a manner which will damage their little brother and sister."
West Valley City Police in Utah quickly named Josh Powell a person of interest in Susan's disappearance. For many months WVCPD have led the children's maternal grandparents to believe they were close to arresting Josh on circumstantial evidence since they had not been able to find Susan's body. They recently said they might have had enough evidence to arrest him by next summer.
Those close to the case have long beleived the Coxes were being strung along by WVCPD. In defense of WVCPD, building a case based solely on circumstancial evidence is difficult and time-consuming, and they have only one shot at it. They have to get it right the first time.
For nearly two years Susan's friends, family, and others worried sick about her two young sons, Charlie and Braden, who were killed last week by their father. The question is: Was there more WVCPD and Washington State officials could have done to protect Susan's children who many feared were in danger?
Josh packed up and moved with his boys to his father's Puyallup home weeks after Susan disappeared, a move her friends and family have long said she would not have wanted. She did not trust her father-in-law, Steve Powell, and told her close friends that he had made sexual advances towards her. Josh, they say, was aware of this and still chose to move into his father's home.
Steve was arrested last September on 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of child porn. Josh's children were removed from the home and placed in state custody. Their maternal grandparents, Chuck and Judy Cox, filed for custody and were granted temporary custody of the children.
Now it is learned that police had strong evidence that Josh was also involved in deviant sexual behaviors like his father, and yet they held onto that evidence while they knew people had serious concerns for the children's safety. They finally released the information after the State of Washington requested it from them on Feb. 1.
It was the images found on Josh's computer that prompted a judge to order him to undergo a psychosexual evaluation just days before he killed himself and his children.
Washington's Department of Social and Health Services Public Affairs Senior Director Thomas Shapley said that the material prompted the court to stop a process that likely would have returned Charlie and Braden to their father's custody.
Shapley said the material found on the computer was so disturbing that it prompted the state psychologist consulting in the custody case to change his opinion and recommend that the court prevent the return of the children, MSNBC reports.
Attorney for Chuck and Judy Cox, Steve Downing, told the AP that he wasn't invited to see the materials before the custody hearing last week. He said he might have asked the court to change the terms of Powell's supervised visitation with the boys had he seen the images.
Susan’s disappearance
Susan is the 28-year-old West Valley City, Utah mom who went missing in December 2009. Her husband, Josh Powell, was the last person to see her and was the only known person of interest in Susan's disappearance before his death Sunday. He alleged that he took their two young sons on an impromptu camping trip in Utah’s remote West Desert around midnight and that when he returned the following afternoon, Susan was gone. Temperatures were sub-freezing and he claimed he and the boys slept in the family minivan.
Days later Josh rented a car. His sister, Jennifer Graves, told Examiner.com he was gone for about 24 hours and gave no explanation of his whereabouts to police. Within weeks he packed up his children and moved to his father, Steve Powell’s Puyallup, Washington home – a move Susan’s friends and family have long said she would not have wanted for her children. She had moved from Washington to Utah five years before she vanished to get away from her father-in-law.
To better understand why Susan didn’t want her children around her father-in-law read:
Steve was arrested last fall on 14 charges of voyeurism and child porn. Police say they removed a “trailer full” of evidence from his home including computers that contained thousands of images of young women and girls in various stages of undress, including naked video and photos of girls bathing and using the toilet. Some photos were of Susan who police say clearly did not know she was being photographed.
Court documents show police also found photos of Steve Powell. Those photos, they said, were sexual in nature and included images of him naked, images of his genitals, and images of him masturbating.
Steve remains in jail on $200,000 bail and awaits his trial. Upon learning of his son’s suicide and the murder of his grandchildren Steve allegedly yelled at police, refused to speak with media, and was put on suicide watch.
Days after Josh killed himself and his two children the West Valley Police Department’s Chief of Police said in an interview that Josh’s father, Steve Powell, has now been named a person of interest in Susan’s disappearance.
He clarified his statement by saying police want to talk to Steve, and when police want to talk to a person they become a “person of interest.”
Police are still asking that anyone with information about Susan’s disappearance to call West Valley City Police at 801-840-4000.
Click here for more on Susan's story.
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