Still Misfitting

We return our readers to the curious case of Susan Powell, “missing” since early December when her strange husband, Josh, took the toddler boys on a midnight camping trip in sub-zero temperatures only to return home to an empty house where his vanished wife left her cell phone, purse and car.

Powell moved back to Washington state last month and has kept a low profile from press and law enforcement. However, his new neighbors decided to put up posters and purple ribbons to alert the community of the missing wife/mother. Now, whether they did this as a passive-aggressive reminder to Josh that they know who he is and are not about to let him forget it (which is the most likely scenario), or they sincerely believe hanging posters and ribbons will help find Susan, Powell and his dad didn’t take too kindly to the gesture:

Joshua Powell’s father on Friday said posters of his missing daughter-in-law plastered around his Washington state neighborhood this week are upsetting and confusing his two young grandchildren.

“Five-year-old Charlie did notice the flyers, and was concerned, asking why his mother’s picture was on all the signs,” said Steven Powell, father-in-law of Susan Powell, in an e-mail. “We have made every effort to shield the children from emotional trauma and will continue to do so.”

Meanwhile, in order to bolster the lame charade that he is grieving or concerned, Josh Powell published a website for Susan that is poorly designed, badly written, seriously creepy, and reminiscent of Cam Brown’s. It’s hard to believe a Y-Generation computer savvy geek like Josh would create such a gawd-awful website.

Followers of the Laci Peterson case will recall that Scott Peterson attempted to sell the couple’s house in Modesto, traded in Laci’s Rover, and moved out of the house and wandered from Berkeley to Bakersfield to San Diego to avoid police, the media and anyone who would recognize him.

Perhaps like Scott Peterson, Josh Powell is attempting to erase all traces of Susan’s existence, erase his old life, erase the past, and hope everyone just forgets all about it.

Update I Below

It seems, based on several news stories from Utah sources, that our suspected spousal murrrderer, Josh Powell, has continued to raise eyebrows with his odd behavior – behavior that is utterly familiar to those of us who have studied The Narcissist’s Playbook of Grief and followed the Laci Peterson murder case in 2003.

The plot thickens considerably when we discover that Josh rented a car within a few hours after the mini-van in which he took his midnight camping trip was temporarily confiscated by police in order to collect evidence. According to the rental agency, Josh put “several hundred miles” on the vehicle before returning it within 24 hours. If he followed the usual course of action of amateur spousal murrrderers, Josh probably returned to the scene of the crime. Did police have the foresight to follow him? Probably, but we won’t know until later.

After clamming up and refusing to discuss details of the camping trip and securing the services of a high-profile defense attorney, Josh left Utah and showed up at a candlelight vigil for Susan in their hometown in Washington state, much to the surprise of Susan’s friends and family. He avoided any substantial contact with Susan’s family and hid from the cameras. Does that remind you of anyone? At least he didn’t have a cell phone stuck to his ear, and it’s doubtful he was talking to his girlfriend, claiming to be in Paris. But, you never know.

Currently, Josh is hiding out at his dad’s house. His dad has been openly hostile to the press and claims that Josh, along with the rest of his family, will be “vilified” by the media. Nobody can blame Mr. Powell for being defensive, but from articles about his relationship with Josh and his scorn of religion, particularly Mormonism, it’s possible he fueled the fires of discord in the Powell marriage. My hope that elders in the church would convince Josh to confess are now dashed. His dad will probably advise him to stay quiet, hope no body is discovered, and he can resume his life in Washington away from the publicity. Good luck with that one, Josh.

According to Susan’s friends, Susan had been preparing to leave Josh last year and worried he might kidnap the boys rather than share custody. Susan also allegedly created a separate bank account and was depositing money apart from the family funds, which enraged Josh and created more strife in the relationship. Are we going to discover more bad news beyond the couple’s substantial debt, bankruptcy and unemployment? Is this enough motive for murder? What would Josh gain financially by killing Susan? Nobody has indicated that there is a life insurance policy, so we have no financial motive here. It seems merely a crime of passion instigated by an argument or accusation and then covered up. This murder does not appear planned; in fact, Josh is terribly disorganized and inept. We can only hope he was also careless in his methods and left a nice, fat trail.

Meanwhile, West Valley City Police Captain, Tom McLachlan doesn’t seem too worried that Josh left town:

“The pressure is to conduct the investigation of this missing person in a legal fashion where we can get a resolution that will stand up in any court in the land.”

McLachlan’s statement came days after Joshua Powell left his Utah home to travel 900 miles to Washington state to spend the holidays with family there and attend a vigil for his missing wife.

Obviously, McLachlan knows a lot more than we do and has been quite the cool customer. Let’s hope they do a better job than cops in North Carolina.

Update I

Whoops! I guess Josh got a pre-paid cell phone and then told someone about it. Dumb. Dumb. Dumb.

Tim Petersen, Powell’s neighbor tells ABC 4 news that Powell came over to their house on Wednesday evening, just days after Susan disappeared and told them about a new phone he bought and asked for a ride to pick up his minivan. Petersen said, “We asked about Susan but he didn’t want to talk about her. He only wanted to talk about his new clothes and phone.”

As long-time readers of this and other traditional crime blogs have no doubt heard or read, another beautiful, young mother has mysteriously disappeared (Susan Powell in Utah) and her goateed husband has already made most of the worst mistakes an amateur spousal murrrderer can make (with the exception of using his cell phone to signal his actual whereabouts the night in question).

Susan Powell, 28, was last seen Sunday at her home in West Valley City and was reported missing by relatives the next day.

Powell’s husband, Joshua Powell, and two children were also believed to be missing but returned home Monday afternoon. Joshua Powell said he decided Sunday night to take the children on a late-night camping trip.

“Lots of times I just go camping with my boys,” Powell told a local CBS News’ affiliate. “Just overnight. We do s’mores and stuff.”

But after not hearing from her for five days, Susan Powell’s family has become worried.

Naturally,  it’s irresistable to compare this case to Laci Peterson’s, and there are many similarities: a young, low-risk, beautiful, young mother disappears near Christmas; her handsome, clean-cut, Boy Scout husband (with a goatee) has an incomprehensible, Petersonesque alibi and lawyers up within hours of returning from the campgrounds where he claims he took his two toddlers in the dead of a bleak winter’s night; loved ones and parents circle the wagons and claim the poor, innocent husband could *never* harm his wife; to add to the suspense, the family is religious and devout, like another spousal murrrderer from Utah, Mark Hacking.

Nonetheless, I suspect we have a story that resembles more the *other* Peterson case – Mike Peterson from Durham. Why? Because I surmise that Susan Powell was murdered in a rage over something she discovered about Josh. Unlike in Laci Peterson’s murder, this was not planned, judging by the ridiculous alibi and panicked response of the usual suspect.

So, is Josh secretly gay (like Mike Peterson), or, worse, some sort of pedophile? Was he caught cheating on his wife with  cocktail waitresses he met in Nevada?  Did he rack up debt like Neil Entwistle? What was it that Susan discovered or confronted him with when he erupted? According to recent reports, a computer was seized in a search (which may yield some very interesting information), and the investigation is intensifying.

Like Laci Peterson, there is no evidence to suggest that Susan Powell left her family of her own volition: she didn’t take her keys, purse or car, she’s not a likely candidate to abandon her children, and she has no history of psychotic drama like Jennifer Wilbanks.

No, I think Joshua has to be convinced by his elders to confess and lead police to the tragic burial ground somewhere in BFE Utah en route to the desolate campgrounds. Please spare these little children the agony and trauma that Michelle Young’s daughter will experience.

Our friend, Denise Nix of The Daily Breeze reports of a murder trial involving an area quite familiar to Rendezvous readers (and misfits of yore), Rancho Palos Verdes. Read all about it at the link. Apparently, accused spousal murrrderer Brandon Manai, forgot one of the key rules of modern-day criminals: don’t use your cell phone during or after committing a crime if you intend for your alibi to stick.

The motive for the murder is unclear at this time. Had the victim, Julie Rosas, told her husband that she was pregnant, as is sometimes a ploy used to reel in wayward husbands? No indications of pregnancy are noted in the reports. Obviously, she wasn’t dressed for “hiking” at the time of her death, and there was no sign of a physical altercation prior to her fall. How did she get up there?  Was she brought to the cliff after being drugged? Traces of any substance (like GHB) would have disappeared by the time she was found. Her poor, grieving husband didn’t even report her missing for a couple of days and has a history of abusing women, according to an ex-girlfriend who is scheduled to testify.

Manai was sloppy and stupid, as is the case with most spouse murderers who inevitably get caught and sentenced to long prison stints, but why did he do it? There was no life insurance, no children from a previous relationship, no financial gain. We can only guess.