I am an Unsolved Mysteries fan and or Amateur Utah Homicide Sleuth

FAIR WARNING, this is a long rambling post, but I gotta get it all out of me.

Okay, so ever since around December I have been sorta.......obsessed with both the cheesy but good series Unsolved Mysteries which is readily available to watch on youtube...(like this one., my favorite) But watch that later, AND unsolved local crime/homicide cases. Well there are "only" 2, but they are both endlessly fascinating to me. I have thought a lot about why and I think it's because I try to avoid the local nightly news because I have realized it makes me a bit anxious for some reason.

A. I hate how they tease me with certain stories I and pretty much all people are interested in (typically human interest stories), and then finally get to them in the last few closing seconds. I know WHY they do it, but I still resent it.

B. Every night, in our fair state of Utah alone, there is a least one murder. In a state of only 2 million people, that is unsettling to me. I don't feel like I know anyone that is capable of murdering someone, but statistically, (Cicada and I just did the math here: If I know 5,479 people living in Utah, one of those people will be murdered this year. Actually, that seems about right. I "only" have about 84 Facebook friends (I didn't drop that info just to drop it by the way, I really don't like Facebook but I see the importance of it), so I can't imagine how many people I have known over the years, but maybe that's why I don't I haven't known anyone that has been murdered. I think mostly it's all happening out in West Valley and Ogden, which I am not knocking those places but they do seem to have the highest occurrences of murdering...s.

C. All this crap is happening close to home.

Anyway since I do try to avoid them, I still manage to hear about certain local cases, and for some reason these 2 have stuck with me and I find myself thinking about them regularly.

1. The recent murder of an ex-BYU professor.

A man who had a good amount of money and a very large gun collection, was "found" by his son with his throat slit inside his bathtub on the upstairs level. His son daughter-in-law said they were tied up by intruders and they stole his guns, murdering Kay in the process, leaving them tied up as witnesses.

By the time I got around to reading this story, the the Payson P.D. had released the 9-1-1 call that was made, and if you take the time to listen to it, you'll know why they (the son and daughter-in-law) are now the only named persons of interest. (the daughter They practically implicate themselves in his murder, based on the way the call goes. In particular, their ultra mild, "could care less about this situation" tone and the fact that the daughter-in-law gets snippy with the poor 9-1-1 operator when asking what the suspects looked like. This is how she answers her, in a really condescending annoyed tone: Ma'am, I don't know. The son, it turns out has a history of violent crime. I know that is always a matter of innocent until proven guilty, but here are my reasons why I as an amateur sleuth, I have got this all wrapped up.

• Again, their tone in the 9-1-1 call, which I know, people react differently to these things, but if you listen to the call, explain to me how that woman could not be at least a little unhinged.

• Apparently as I understand it, they gave different accounts of the perpetrators, one issue being a confusion of the race of the men, (one says they were all white men and the other doesn't), and a general difference of sequencing of events, details, etc.

• A fatal wound like the one committed here, is a very brutally violent one, not to mention messy. Typically it's perpetrated by those bearing a grudge against the victim. And I have to say it, since when do smooth assassin types (the son said on the 9-1-1 call that one of them had this handgun he names specifically that has a laser scope) choose to slit throats to put a bullet through someones head. I mean sorry to be graphic, but it just makes common sense, and then to make sure it's done over a bathtub to minimize the mess....I mean, come on.

It's just all so sad, but here is my theory: The son, possibly bearing a grudge over many past arguments with his father and jealous of his father's prominence and success financially, seeks to acquire his father's whole gun collection and dispense of his father out of spite and hatred.

It's hard to imagine, but it happens all the time.

2. The recent disappearance of Susan Powell.

This one has been the one that, Cicada can attest, I have been consumed by since news of of Susan's disappearance. People get upset and I can see why, how a lot of people disappear all the time and it doesn't make national news, but not since the Laci Peterson disappearance has the spouse of the missing person had such a suspicious and improbably fabricated alibi. I know not everyone has heard about this case, Yes anyway, things aren't looking good for Josh Powell, Susan husband, and this is why:

Here is a partial timeline I have made of the early events in the case, mostly focusing on Josh Powell. The substantiated facts are written (in black), the ones deducted from common sense in the given situations (in blue) alleged by Josh Powell (in red) my commentary of what I think happened which is total speculation, but it is based on my knowledge of all the accounts of friends, neighbors, and counselors connected to the case and my imagination which has run wild I must warn you, and I should say I am not trying to be insensitive I just am interested in what really happened, and I will refrain from being graphic. (in purple)

December 6

Susan attended church that day (probably had the kids with her at church), had a church member over for dinner, (put the kids to bed at a reasonable hour)

Susan goes to bed in the early evening hour.

Josh Powell wakes up the his 2 and 4 year old at 12:30 a.m. to take them on an impromptu overnight camping trip to the Pony Express camping grounds about 2 hours away in sub freezing temperatures. (He doesn't consult his wife because of course she would say no, so it probably didn't happen this way. Susan and Josh probably get in some kind of argument or Josh is upset over a series of past recent arguments. The issue being, about the ultimatum Susan had proposed to Josh about straightening out his life and not undermining her parenting and not wielding such tight control over her life and how she will leave him if he doesn't change then she'll take the kids and start a new life. So, out of rage for those reasons and knowing he is not likely to change, he does the unthinkable. Afterwards, he is likely shocked at his action frantically pours A LOT of water on the carpet to dilute and clean up the mess. He freaks out that someone might see the wet spot so he finds 2 box fans (somehow) and starts trying to dry the spot. Josh drives Susan with the boys, to find a solution of what to do with her.

December 7

Susan doesn't bring in her kids to daycare like she always does, she also doesn't call in to work, and neither does Josh. The daycare calls Josh's sister, who gets concerned, so she with her mother to the Powell's house and finds that it's locked and no one is answering the door. She calls the police to come and hopefully see that they weren't all poisoned by carbon monoxide or something. The break in to discover that Susan's cellphone, car keys, and wallet are all at home, and there are 2 box fans blowing on a large wet spot.

Josh is likely freaking out at this point that everyone keeps calling him wondering where he is, and reassures himself that they probably won't call the police and he had better make it back home. On the way home he takes a call or makes a call (I can't remember which) to his sister and she informs him that his wife is missing and that everyone is wondering where he is. He arrives home in the later afternoon this day.

He is taken in for questioning by the police. He says that he went camping with the boys to have s'mores and that he forgot that the next day wasn't Sunday and that's why he didn't call in to work. How convenient for you. He is released.

December 8

Police spend 2 hours searching the house, seize his van, computer and hopefully do all that CSI stuff.

December 9:

Josh rents a car somewhere in this time period, because he has the car for 24 hours, and because the West Valley police took his van. He logs hundreds of miles. There is no GPS unit in the car and they weren't monitoring him because he wasn't named as a suspect. So I think he likely was in this mode: OH SHOOT! OH SHOOT! OH SHOOT! everyone thinks I am guilty! There are all going to start looking for her body where I said I was "camping." Must move body!! Must move body!! He moves the body. I am guessing in southern Utah.

December 10

Police search the general area Josh said he went camping and find that no sign of camping going on in that area.

When Josh returns, this happens:

Later in the day, this happens:

Call it absolute schadenfreude but I love to hate this guy. Hey must be sacred out of his MIND, he looks it too. I like manages some w tears, but then makes every possible attempt to get out of the interview. I mean I understand people don't like cameras being shoved in their faces, but if my wife were missing I would say this:

"Look, people, I can see how this looks, I understand why everyone looks at the husband first but I've got nothing to hide here. I SWEAR to you I have NOTHING to do with her disappearance. Please understand I will be doing everything I can to find out where she is. It is so out of character for her to just up an leave, so I know somebody has taken her. PLEASE help me find her. All those out there that hear me now, please help me find my wife! We are organizing search parties, we are getting her face out there.............etc, etc."

I know again, people all don't act the same in these situations but, common sense people!

December 11

Josh is named by police as a person of interest but not a suspect. Josh is giving the police very vague answers still and won't take them to the spot where he said he went camping. He won't submit to a lie detector test. Somewhere in the next few days he doesn't show up for his third interview with them.

December 14

Josh hires a locally famous criminal defense attorney named Scott Williams, Utah's answer to Mark Geragos. This is what I imagined happened, Scott Williams saw Josh Powell unintentionally implicating himself in a couple T.V. interviews and thinks I HAVE GOT TO GET ON THIS!! He contacts Josh and says:" Don't talk to anyone else, I'll work for you cheap, just STOP talking to anyone."

This is where I will leave the timeline and just say, from here on out, Josh continues to avoid the media, goes with his boys to his home state of Washington, to have Christmas with his father, (his mother and sister live in the SLC area) After Christmas, he decides to pack up the house whilst people are still searching for Susan and hoping she comes home. He moves all his belongings to Pallyup WA, to live with his father and boys in a gated community. Susan's parents live in Pallyup,..awkward...and he won't allow his boys to visit them unless he is present. He eventually cuts them off from seeing their grandparents. After nearly three months of doing nothing outwardly proactive, Josh creates this beauty of a website;

http://www.susanpowell.org/

It has been verified by his sister as authentic. He claims it is the official source of Susan Powell info, and takes the time to watermark the images and outlines a very clear legal section where No one can use...blah, blah, blah.

I just recommend reading from the section called Susan Hairstylist:

He explains how he is a certified Quickbooks something or other: You are awesome Josh, nice plug for yourself during tax season on your missing wife's website that you created.

He also explains how he is an expert woodworker. You are an expert woodworker, well whoop-a-dee-doo.

OKAY, that's all I feel about saying other than it's just sad to me that all this is going on near us and there has been no justice in either case, and there may never be. I know "that's life" but it is killing me.

That is all.

UPDATE:

Oh this is good.