All language subtitles for The.Disappearance.of.Susan.Cox.Powell.S01E01.WEBRip.x264-ION10

[dramatic music]

- I can't tell you how many
times I've talked

about this case.

You can retire.

You can walk away and
go about your life,

but you're always
gonna have to answer

questions to this case.

- You want me to tell you?

[Steve Powell] The story
about the ring.

[Susan Powell] Okay.

You're too close.

- I'd get frustrated when
people would be like,

"Hey, don't you know her?"

They'd just talk
about it lightly,

and it's my friend
that's gone [crying].

[Susan] [laughing]

[Anne Bremner] When I look at
this case in its totality,

I think it's the most
tragic, horrible case

I've ever seen reported
anywhere.

[dramatic music builds]

Susan Cox Powell.

You know, she was beautiful.

- Ta-da.

[Anne] She had these
young boys.

[Susan] Say, "Hi".

[Anne] She came from a
great family,

and then she just disappears.

[Ellis Maxwell] We have two
box fans that were

blowing on a couch that
was recently cleaned.

The house is
completely locked up.

Susan's purse is in her
bedroom, undisturbed.

It makes no sense.

- Josh Powell is a person of
interest in this case.

- Anybody whose spouse is
missing, they're gonna say,

"I'm gonna look
everywhere."

- I don't even know where
to start looking.

[Reporter] Josh tells police
he took their two young sons

camping at midnight in
sub-zero temperatures.

- When you guys came home
from camping,

who came home with you?

[Chris Jones] When you look
at the breadcrumbs,

she left all the evidence.

Yeah, everybody missed it.

[Susan] If something
happens to me or my family,

covering all my bases.

[Chris] All of a sudden,
this story started

to sort of branch out
in another direction.

- She's the most beautiful thing
that ever walked the earth.

- Josh's father, Steve,
was obsessed with her

and in love with her in
a sick and twisted way.

[Chris] He was
infatuated with Susan Powell.

Bags of toenail clippings,
hair clippings,

dated and had her name on it.

[Steve] She did that for me.

- For the first time ever,
an exclusive interview

with a family member who will
tell her side of the story.

- So, here we are,
daddy and daughter.

- What I saw is different than
what everyone else is claiming.

[Ben Winslow] How many
people knew?

Did anybody know?

[woman] I hope nobody
was in there.

- Where is she and who
really killed her?

[dramatic music]

[theme music]

♪♪♪♪♪

[dramatic music]

- My name is Stephanie Bauer.

I'm an investigative journalist
who's covered notorious crimes

across the country
for over a decade.

Susan Cox Powell was a young
woman who dreamed of being

a wife and a mother,

then mysteriously
disappeared in 2009.

What could've possibly
happened to Susan, and why?

For years, authorities have
named Susan's own husband,

Josh Powell, a person of
interest in this ongoing case,

but what could be Josh's motive?

[Steve] Okay, one more smile,

then I'm going to get
the other camera.

- I've worked hundreds of cases,
if not thousands,

but the Susan Powell case is
probably right up there

at the top.

Everybody you talked to with
the evidence that was there

believed that Josh was somehow
involved when she went missing.

[Stephanie] For the first time
ever, we've unearthed

boxes of home videos made by
Josh Powell's father, Steve.

- And here I am.

- These are all his
original tapes?

- Yes.
- That were taken into evidence?

[Gary] Those are all
original tapes that were

taken into evidence.

[Stephanie] Steven likes to
document everything.

He takes, like, these bizarre,
lifelong videos.

[dramatic music]

- We knew that her father-in-law
had an obsession,

but I... it's...

You don't see how bad it was

until you really
see this evidence.

- Yeah.

Unfortunately, I've seen some
sides of Steven that I never,

ever want to see, and I
can never, ever un-see.

He had a deviant mind
and an evil intent,

and then, as you can see,

the apple doesn't fall far
from the tree with Josh.

[Susan] All right.

- See, I married good, huh?

[Steve] Yeah, no kidding, wow.

- From the beginning, we set
out to piece together

a definitive account of what
happened to Susan Cox Powell.

For the first time ever,

Susan's family and
the Powell family

speak out.

- We're hoping by showing
this or getting stuff out,

somehow somebody will
have a clue that leads

to finding Susan.

- Yeah.

[dramatic music]

[Denise Ernest] When I was 12,

we moved to Puyallup,
Washington,

And it was just the six of us,

my three sisters
and my parents.

Susan was there to support me
no matter what I did.

- She made me feel happy,
but I could tell if she was

not feeling herself or unhappy,
but that was rare.

Most of the time, she was
happy and full of life.

- [laughing]

[Steve] Okay.

[Chuck Cox] Susan was very
positive, always interested,

and very determined.

She was willing to do
whatever work was required

to get what she wanted.

[Susan] And there's
more stuff...

[Chuck] In high school,
she decided she wanted

to be a beautician.

- And this stuff
makes my skin,

my face match my arms
because my face doesn't tan.

- But most of all, she wanted to
be married and have a family.

She loved kids.

- She was very impatient
to get to that point

and was looking around for,

"Okay, now I got to find me
a potential husband."

That's when she met Josh.

[dramatic music]

[Susan] So he was
shopping for a ring,

and he told me it was
going to be for his mom,

and so I was helping him look,

and he was looking at this
ring that I have on.

He bought it, and
actually I paid for it

so he could get the
associate discount-

[Steve] Ah.

- And then he turned around
and wrote me a check for it.

[Steve] Uh-huh [affirmative].

- You're too close. [laughing]

So then he eventually proposed.

[dramatic music]

- In the Mormon Church,
they have what they call

a single adult ward where
people go to meet each other,

and Josh was attending
the same ward.

[Wedding MC] Two, three.

[Denise] Susan had been
dating Josh for only

two months before
they got engaged.

[Wedding MC] Whenever he's
ready, he's going to let it go.

- Josh was very,
very loud,

very overbearing.

His opinions were the
only right ones,

and he was very obsessive.

- Let's get one in this
background.

Let's all come over to this
background, get one more.

- He would talk so much
about himself.

- I'm opening my present.

[woman] I feel privileged.

[Steve] This is something you
can actually wear to church.

[Denise] I thought, "Wow,

this guy just wants
attention or something."

[Steve] There goes Josh
into the sunset or something.

- He thought that he
knew it all,

and no matter what you
said or did to him,

he just shrugged it off.

- I just knew.

I mean, you know ...

[woman] You know when
you know, don't ya?

[Josh] Yeah.

[Denise] My parents
asked her not to marry him.

I asked her not to marry him.

- I said, "Go out and
date like crazy

for a couple years and
have fun", and she goes,

"Well, what about Josh?"

And I looked at her

and I said, "I'm sorry Susan.

I look at Josh and
I see darkness."

[dramatic music]

[Denise] Susan loved
the religion.

It was for her.

She enjoyed the rules.

She believed in the church.

If you're in the church and
you get married, you're stuck.

There is no way out.

You just got to deal with it.

You made the decision.

- In the LDS church,
one of the most important

beliefs that we have
is that families are

the most important thing
after God.

[Steve] Your grandchildren
will love this.

[Susan] Mm-hmm [affirmative].

[Steve] Do you have
grandchildren?

[Steve] [laughs]

[dramatic music]

[Denise] Josh had tried to
be a real estate agent.

It didn't work out.

So, they were planning
to move to Utah

for better job opportunities.

[engine rumbles]

- See ya later.

[Steve] Okay, bye.

[gentle piano music]

- When Susan found out
she was pregnant,

she was extremely excited.

- Wait, wait, wait.

Here's my language.

[laughs] So there.

[Denise] 'Cause she always
wanted a big family.

[Susan] Charlie, say, "Hi."

[Denise] When Charlie was born,

she was really excited
because she gave Josh a son.

After she had Braydon,
she had two sons.

- Susan seemed so happy
in her life with Josh,

but you have to wonder, did
anyone see any warning signs

in those first few years
of their relationship?

[Susan] [laughs]

- She seemed to be
on top of things.

So, as I got to know
other circumstances,

I was really surprised.

Susan told me things leading
up to her disappearance.

Josh had all these
expectations on her and

just made her feel awful
if she didn't meet up

to all of these expectations.

- Most of the time,
Josh was downstairs in the

basement in his "office".

One time, I was watching
the boys for them

because they were
going on a date

and they were going
to go see a movie

and go do dinner, and she
just yelled to Josh,

like, "Hey, come on let's go.

We're going to be late,"
and he just snapped.

He turned and looked at her
and was just, "I'm coming!"

It was like a switch.

He was screaming and
the boys started crying.

- She had called me saying
that Josh had pushed her,

and they were fighting,
and I said,

"I'll come get you right now,"

and she said, "No.
It'll be okay.

We'll work it out."

- Domestic violence is such a

complicated situation
for people.

It's a type of violence
and crime and abuse

that is so private,
it's so stigmatized,

it's so embarrassing to people.

Someone who is really highly
controlling, highly jealous,

controlling finances, these
are things that aren't

as obvious sometimes.

All of these things cause
serious emotional implications.

[Tara] As I got to see
the way he treated her,

I couldn't even stand
going over there anymore.

So, we would just visit either
at my house or at a park.

I can't talk about this.

Sorry.

She had said so
many times to me,

"This is not the man
that I married."

So, she was watching
things fall apart,

obviously, before her eyes.

Then I would just see him,
I don't know,

losing respect for her as
a person and as a woman.

As things progressed for the
worst, she was asking me

if I knew, legally,
what her options were

and I had no idea.

[dramatic music]

- We all thought Josh was
pretty harmless.

Creepy, but harmless.

- Nice.

[Denise] But I did hear
him tell her,

"Over my dead body will
you leave me."

Over my dead body will
you have those boys."

- On the morning of
December 7, 2009,

Josh's mother called 911 to
report that Josh, Susan,

and their children
had gone missing.

This is the actual
recording of that call.

- There was more to every
character in this story

than what met the eye.

- The home videos we've
unearthed are shocking.

[Anne] Steven was
obsessed with her.

Steven had pictures of her.

Steven morphed pictures
of himself with her.

[eerie music]

- On December 6, 2009,

a snowstorm covered the suburb
just outside of Salt Lake City

where Josh and Susan Powell
lived with their two children.

This house is the last
place Susan was seen

prior to her disappearance.

There was a lot of turmoil
in this house with

small kids and a young marriage,

but it's eerie to think
something happened here

really, right where
I'm standing.

[eerie music]

- My mom was living
with us at the time,

and she come upstairs and said
that Debbie Codwell had called,

and Debbie Codwell was their
caretaker for the boys.

And Debbie mentioned that
they had never shown up,

which was really unusual.

Susan was so dedicated
to her children,

it was really rather alarming,

and so we decided to
call the police.

[eerie music]

[Jennifer] The officer that
was there called for backup

and three additional
officers showed up.

And they kind of had a little
powwow, and turned to us

and said "Well, we're willing
to break into the house,

if you will take responsibility
for the window."

And so of course we agreed.

And as the officer was
breaking that window,

he pulled the blind aside
and he was like,

"What's up with the fans?"

[Stephanie] When police
officers entered the house,

the couch had been
freshly cleaned

and two box fans were
blowing on it.

Is it possible that someone
was trying to cover up

whatever happened to Susan on
the night she disappeared?

- I got into their bedroom,

and Susan's purse
was right there.

That- That seems really
odd to me that she'd

leave her purse behind.

- The Sergeant taps me
on the shoulder

and tells me that patrol
is out west in the city

on a missing family.

And I go out to the scene,

when I get there, I walked
into the house

and I see the cops in
there and-and Jennifer Graves

and these people in the house,
and I was just, I was furious.

Kicked everybody out of the
house then just started just

taking photographs of
everything in the home.

We have a house that's
completely locked up,

Susan's purse is in her
bedroom undisturbed,

she hadn't gone to work, the
kids hadn't gone to daycare,

they didn't reach out to nobody.

With all of these little
things that kept popping up,

it would make it more suspicious
as the day would progress.

- My cell phone rang, and it
was a woman's voice,

and she said "This is Jennifer
Graves, I'm Josh's sister.

When did you last see Susan?"

So I called up our
friend JoVanna.

- Kiirsi texted me, and she
said Josh and Susan

were missing and that
no one had seen them

since right after church.

I texted Kiirsi and
said that's not true

because I saw her
yesterday afternoon.

[Stephanie] On December 6th,
the day before Susan was

reported missing, JoVanna Owing
spent the afternoon

with Josh, Susan, and
their two children.

Whatever she witnessed
could be crucial

in determining what happened.

You are such a key figure in
this because you are

the last person to see Susan.

How does that make you feel?

I imagine you've gone
through a range of emotions.

- Uh, it makes me- it really
makes me sad that

I didn't clue in to the fact
that there was possibly

going to be something that
would happen to her.

But-

I just-

I can't change it.

- Okay, let's go backwards
a little bit,

Susan had called you to
come over.

- Right.

Susan and I sat down
in the living room

and she was working on a
blanket for one of her sons,

and then Josh and the boys
were in the kitchen

preparing the meal.

- We heard later that
Josh made pancakes,

which doesn't sound
very sinister.

Except when you realize,
Josh refused to make food.

And did Susan make any
comments, about well

"Thanks for the dinner honey."

[JoVanna] Well no, but she
did thank him for bringing

her her plate, and she
thanked him when he

put a blanket on her.

And she said "Isn't that nice?

He could see I was just
a little bit cold?"

And I said, "That is sweet."

After a while, she said
she was feeling tired

and that she thought
she'd just go in

and lay down for a little bit.

- I never met Susan personally,

but talking to her friends and
her family, she was a fighter.

Did Josh drug her
or something?

That's possible.

[JoVanna] Josh told me he was
going to go sledding,

and basically pushed me
out the front door.

And drove off before
I even had left.

[Ellis] JoVanna is the last
person to speak with them.

- By noon of the following day,
no one had heard from

Josh, Susan, or their two
children for over 18 hours.

[eerie music]

[Ellis] I was sitting
in my cop car,

and JoVanna came to
my car and told me

she had just spoken
to Josh.

Plenty of people had called
him, he hasn't answered,

he hasn't returned
any phone calls,

but this random lady
just shows up at my car

and tells me she
just spoke to him.

Where is Susan?

- I got him on the phone,
and I said-

I said, "Josh, where are you?"

And he said, "In West Valley."

I said, "Well, you need
to get home.

"Everybody's worried about you.

"They don't know
where you're at,

"and they don't know
where Susan's at,

and you need
to get home."

And he said, "Okay, I'll
be there in a while,

but Susan should be at
work or something."

[Ellis] And after talking
to JoVanna Owings

at 3 o'clock in the afternoon,
he turns around

and drives 20 minutes
from West Valley south

back to call Susan's phone
and leave her a voice mail.

- Why did he drive back
south 20 minutes

to make that phone call?

He was a smart individual.

I'd called Josh's cell phone,

and I basically tell Josh,

"Look, we've been here for
eight, ten hours,

you need to come home now."

And he tells me,
"Well, I need to-

need to go feed my kids."

And I said, "I don't care,
like, you need to come home.

Your wife is missing."

[Stephanie] After Josh
spoke to Detective Maxwell,

Josh didn't go home.

Instead, he drove to
Susan's work, parked outside,

and called her on her cell
phone to tell her he was there

to pick her up even though
multiple people had told him

that she had never shown
up for work that day.

- After I spoke with Josh,
he doesn't show up

for like 45 minutes.

And so finally, and he
pulls up to the house,

and I approach his van,
and I ask him,

"Hey look let's go down
to our substation

"where we can discuss this.

I can get some information from
you about you, your family,

your wife, so we can
try to find Susan."

[dramatic music]

[Stephanie] What you're about
to hear is the actual

audio from the police
interview with Josh

the day Susan was
reported missing.

- As far as we know, Susan
could have just packed up

with some boyfriend, she had
some affair with somebody

and left the state.

- He told me that he had left
between 12:30 - 1:30

in the morning and packed
the van and the two boys up,

went to go camping out
in the west desert.

And I'm thinking to myself,
"Who loads up two little kids

"and goes out to the
middle of the desert

knowing that there is a severe
winter storm moving in?"

- I'm thinking to myself,
"What the [bleep]?"

[dramatic music]

- On the day Susan disappeared,

police questioned Josh
for only an hour.

Afterwards, they released
him with the agreement

that he'd return for a scheduled
interview the next morning.

- We took Josh back to his home

and released the house to him.

We talked about whether if we
had enough probable cause

to do a search warrant for the
home and for the vehicle.

The conclusion was
that we did not

and so we left.

If there's anything different I
could have done in the case,

it would have been to author
a search warrant that night,

submit it, and if
it was approved,

then we would execute it,

if it wasn't, then we would
just move forward.

[suspenseful music]

[Jennifer] That morning
my mom and I decided

to go back over there.

We actually got there just
before he was supposed to be

doing his police appointment.

[Ellis] When Jennifer Graves
and Terrica Powell

show up there, he- he's
cleaning out his car,

he's doing laundry,

he's doing these things
when he should be at the

police department sitting down
with me doing an interview.

[dramatic music]

[Jennifer] He's like
wondering around through

the whole house
picking up things,

trading out laundry out
of the washer/dryer.

This whole situation was odd.

I didn't know what he was
really doing, ya know?

Did he do something to Susan?

- Josh arrived at the West
Valley City Police Department

for his interview
nearly four hours late

and offered no explanation.

- It's been 10 years since
Josh's interview

with Detective Maxwell.

What was his strategy?

What techniques did he use to
get information out of Josh?

Go back to that day.

What are you feeling
knowing his coming in

and you get your crack
at him, basically?

- I want to reach in there
and slap him.

[laughs]

[Stephanie] He looks annoyed.

[Ellis] Yeah.

- Annoyed to be there, almost.
- Maybe.

- The way he leans back
sort of like,

"I don't really feel
like being here.

This is a waste of my time."

Did you get that feeling?

- Oh yeah, absolutely.

So I'm irritated, I'm upset,

and I'm nervous because
what has he been doing

for the last three
and a half hours?

- Susan would not have allowed

him to leave in the
middle of the night

with two little kids to go
out to the west desert

when there's a storm moving in.

- How are you responding
to this?

Are you making him feel like
your story's crazy, come on,

or are you allowing him to
give you more, more, more?

- I'm trying to just
let him talk.

- We located Susan's phone
the night before.

Josh let it in the mini-van.

I pressed him a
little bit saying,

"Yeah but this is her phone.

There's no reason for
you to have her phone."

- Mm-hmm [affirmative]

[Ellis] And you're calling
her phone.

You know you have her phone,
but you're calling her phone.

"Well I forgot I
had her phone".

Just all nonsense.

He's full of lies.

- My blood pressures got
to be up right now.

I mean look at him.

Look at him just sit there.

He does not- he does not
express any remorse,

any concern...

he's just sitting
there nonchalant.

He doesn't care that his
wife's missing.

- He jumped all over that.

- I think the reason why he
jumped all over that is because

he didn't have anything
else to offer to us.

Cause what he did have to
offer to us, he couldn't,

because it would implicate him.

I had no doubt that
he was responsible,

however I could not prove it.

[Josh] [sobbing]

- After I interviewed Josh,
I explained to him,

"Hey, we've secured a search
warrant for your house.

"They're almost finished
with your van.

"If you'll be patient, we'll
get your van back to you

within the hour."

[Josh] I can leave?

[Ellis] Yeah, if you want
to leave, you can leave.

[Josh] Now, and you're
keeping my phone or?

[Ellis] I'm gonna keep
your phone.

[door closes]

Josh hung out in the lobby
of the police department

for maybe 15-20 minutes,
and then he just left.

[dramatic music]

The next day, we learned
Josh had rented a car.

- When Josh finished
his interview,

police had not finished
searching his car.

They told him to wait

and they'd return his
van to him shortly.

Instead, he called a taxi,

went to the Salt Lake City
Airport, and rented a car.

He would have had his own
car back in 15 minutes,

so why would he pay to rent one?

[Ellis] Josh put, I believe,
806 miles on it.

806 miles is a long ways.

He could have went
into southern Idaho.

He could have went into Wyoming,

Colorado,

Nevada,

Oregon.

What that meant to me was,

did he take her body and
move it somewhere else?

- Josh was gone for 20 hours

and put over 800 miles
on his rental car.

To this day, we still don't
know where Josh went,

what he was doing,
and who he was with.

- Some people believe he met up
with his dad, Steven Powell.

[Stephanie] On the night
Josh is unaccounted for,

there is zero activity
on his cell phone.

Interestingly, there's also
zero activity on his father,

Steve's, phone.

No one called Josh or Steve

and neither of them
reached out to anyone?

This is the day after Susan
disappeared,

and both of them are off
the grid at the same time.

- And here I am.

[Stephanie] Could Steve
be connected?

Does he hold the answers
to why Susan disappeared?

- Steve was gone from work;

his telephone was completely
shut down for one entire day.

He knows something.

He knows something.

[eerie music]

- It was strange how this-
all of a sudden,

this story about
Susan's disappearance

and Josh as a possible suspect

started to sort of branch out
in another direction

and all of a sudden Steve Powell
became part of the story.

- I know that Josh and Steve
are close

so, as the investigation
progressed forward,

my partners went up there
within the week or two

and interviewed Steve.

[dramatic music]

- He became a little bit more
interesting of a person

because he openly admitted
this infatuation

that he had with Susan.

[Steve] You have a nice
profile too.

It's really, um, pretty.

- I don't even pretend to
be in his brain

figuring out why he was
obsessed about Susan.

I have no idea why
he targeted her.

[faucet running]

- You're staring at me.

[Jennifer] I think it bothered
Josh a great deal,

but my dad was able to
make him believe that

there was really nothing there.

- The video you're about to
see is footage shot

by Steve Powell that has
never been seen outside

the police investigation.

[dramatic music]

- I'm gonna walk past you now,

so you'll have to
turn off the camera.

[Steve] Okay.

[Susan] No.

[Steve] Oh, move your hand,
move the box.

- Steven Powell was
narcissistic,

very self-absorbed,

out of touch with reality.

He was under the impression
that any time he was

with Susan or saw Susan,
she was hitting on him,

that she was interested in him.

[Ellis] He was infatuated
with her.

[Ellis] He would video her.

He would be inside of his van

and video her walking to
and from buildings.

[Anne] Steven was obsessed
with her.

Steven had journals about her.

Steven had pictures of her.

Steven morphed pictures
of himself with her.

- So ...

I probably do some pretty...

well some people might
think they're weird.

I think she's the most
beautiful thing

that ever walked the Earth.

- It progressively gets worse
and worse and worse.

[Steve] What I'd like to
is to have-

be able to do this actually
on her body.

- If somebody looked
at this case

and they only looked at
Steven Powell ...

- I'm pretty sweaty.

- I think they would
be quick to say

he was responsible for
her disappearance.

- In reading Steve's journals
and reviewing hours

of his personal home videos,

it's clear, his obsession
began eight years

before she disappeared when Josh
and Susan lived with Steve

for a brief period of time.

[eerie music]

- I've been in love with her for

a year and a half or more now.

I can't even think
of anything else.

[giggling]

- Josh actually screwed up
another job situation,

and they had to move out
of where they were

and they moved in with my dad.

[Steve] I think it's a
comforter.

- Susan first told me that
her father-in-law

had a crush on her,
which I thought maybe...

that's kind of odd.

[Steve] Oh by the way I got
those pictures back

I took of you in the mall.

- In the parking lot?
[laughs]

[Steve] Right.

- Those who knew Steve Powell
have distanced themselves

in light of these
disturbing revelations.

This is an exclusive interview
with a woman who had

a long-standing friendship
with Steve.

So we've agreed to protect
her anonymity and appearance.

- My dad came onto Susan
and made an offer like,

"Well let's just share.

Josh and I can just share you."

And Susan was so
mortified and disturbed,

she was a newlywed, and
completely devoted to Josh.

This idea was completely
disgusting to her.

[Denise] She was not happy
about that.

Ya know, shortly after
she told me about

his advances toward her,
they moved.

- Susan was really dedicated
to her marriage

and really dedicated
to her children.

She really, really
wanted to make it work.

And it was okay
for a little while.

- Susan had no idea what
she married into.

Imagine trying to raise two
children while navigating

severe emotional abuse
by your husband

and your father-in-law.

- Unfortunately,
for women in Utah,

domestic violence is a
very significant reality.

Nationally, about 30% of
homicides are perpetrated

by a current or former
intimate partner.

In Utah, back to the year 2000,
it's at least 42%,

some years as high as 55%.

Rules within the LDS faith are
not always friendly to women.

They're very limiting and
they're very traditional,

and they give a lot
of power to men.

[Denise] Susan felt she
could make things better,

and if she just kept going
to church and did what

the Lord wanted her to do,
then things would work out,

and no matter what I said,
she just refused to leave him.

- After a while, Josh started
talking to my dad again.

And he was able to convince
him that it was all

a misunderstanding and
Susan was just wrong,

and misrepresenting
the situation,

or lying to him.

[Kiirsi] Every single time
he got off the phone

with his dad, they would get
into a huge argument.

Josh would just be really
argumentative and really

awful to her, and so she said,

"His dad is trying to pull
us apart on purpose",

and I said, "Why would
he do that,

why would he want his son
to lose his marriage?"

And she said, "Because
he wants me for himself."

And she said, "Josh's dad
has been obsessed with me

for a long time."

And I pushed her
and I kept at her

until she went to
a divorce lawyer.

- We are in the
Sarah Circle house.

This is me, hi, sorry.

[Kiirsi] She said, "Okay this
is what he told me to do,

he told me to walk through
the house with a video camera

and record everything
in the house."

[Susan] Just in case.

[Kiirsi] "And he told me to
put that on a disk,

and keep it somewhere safe
away from the house."

- She said, "In case anything
ever happens to me..."

and I always thought that was so
weird of a thing for her to say.

"In case anything
happens to me"

So she was expecting it.

- Hope everything works out
and we're all happy and...

live happily ever after as
much as that's possible.

- She gave him an ultimatum.

You need to shape up, or I'm
going to get a divorce.

[Jennifer] Josh was backed
into a corner.

I knew he would explode.

- She wrote, "If I die,
it may not be an accident.

Even if it looks like one."

[dramatic music]

[Ellis] As the days move on,

we don't have the evidence
to support that Josh

is responsible for
Susan's disappearance,

but detectives went out
to Susan's employer

and the staff told us that
she had a safe deposit box.

- Susan Cox Powell's
safety deposit box

contained two startling
pieces of evidence.

The first was a self-made
home video in which she

documented all the assets
in her house.

- Covering all my bases,
making sure that if

something happens to me
or my family or all of us

that our assets
are documented.

[Stephanie] The second
item was a will that she

had hand-written on a
loose-leaf piece of paper.

On the front Susan wrote,

"For the family and
friends of Susan,

"all accept Josh Powell,
husband,

I don't trust him."

[Ellis] It was-

it was emotional.

It's like, man, what
is in this thing.

- Every day in the U.S.,

more than three woman
are killed by their

husbands or boyfriends.

Imagine being abused
by the person you love,

who you chose to marry,
and feeling so helpless

that you write a will and
hide it in case he kills you.

She wrote "If I die, it may
not be an accident,

"even if it looks like one.

Take care of my boys."

- Several people are now
wondering what went on

behind closed doors of
the Powell residence.

- They were not really
communicating well,

and I think she
was contemplating

divorcing him at that point.

- Now according to public
record, Josh had filed for

bankruptcy because they
were $200,000 in debt.

- He would try to control the
money and she had to

hide money here and there.

- Susan was given a-

a very small spending allowance,

less than a hundred bucks.

That was what she
bought food on.

That's what she paid for gas on.

- He got mad at her for
giving the boys

each an entire hot dog.

Instead of cutting one in half
and them eating half a hot dog.

- Josh got rid of
their second car

and that was another way
he had to control her,

he claimed it was
costing too much gas.

She had to ride a bike
to work seven miles

on a very, very busy road.

[Kirk] Josh just had an
absolute control

over what went on.

- Hope everything works out
and we're all happy and...

live happily ever after as
much as that's possible.

- I hope that if I have other
friends in this situation

that I can help them figure out
who to talk to,

which direction to take.

- He was losing control.

Definitely losing control
in a number of ways.

Probably including
a likely divorce.

- That spring, she kind of
gave him an ultimatum

like you need to shape up

or I'm going to get a divorce.

You need to start loving me
like you loved me,

supporting me, going to church,

helping with the kids,

being compassionate.

And I think something took
place in that house...

that evening...

[Stephanie] Is this the
motive for Susan's murder

or is Steve Powell's
obsession the real cause?

Detective Maxwell thinks
Susan Cox Powell

was most likely killed
by her husband

the night she went missing.

It was interesting because
I asked to see his hands

and the next time I see him,
I take pictures of his hands,

he was very concerned that I
was interested in his hands.

And I thought that
was kind of funny,

and he was pointing out well
I've got a little nick here,

and I've got dry hands.

[Chris] They had left him
in the room for a moment.

I just remember him, the way
he looked at his hands

and the way he was
squeezing them together,

and I wonder what was he looking
at and what was he remembering.

What did he see in his hands?

I mean, it just makes you
think that those hands

had something to do with her
death and disappearance.

- See, right here he's looking
at his hands again,

he's so worried about his hands.

- He's concerned.

He's concerned that
maybe he slipped up.

As you can see, he's looking
at his hands again.

- Again with the hands.
- Right.

You know, that's what
leads me to believe that

he strangled her.

Those hands, right there,
that's what took Susan's life.

- This is a police photo taken

the day that Susan
was reported missing.

It shows the tile
beside the couch,

the same couch police
discovered had been

freshly cleaned the day
they searched the home.

Did Josh clean the couch to
cover up what happened,

but miss the blood caused
by Susan's murder?

[Ellis] The blood droplets
are off to the left

of the armrest on the title.

Come from her maybe coughing?

Because they're really
minute, they're tiny,

little just droplets.

And I think that's where
he tries to strangle her

and suffocate her.

[Stephanie] We're driving
through one of the big highways

in Salt Lake I-80.

All I can think about is

did Josh Powell drive on this
very road with his sons

in the back seat and his dead
wife in the back of their car?

Is that conceivable?

Who was involved, how deep
does this conspiracy go,

does this crime go,
does this plan go?

If he got rid of Susan,
did Steve help him plan it

and then help him dispose
of the body after the fact?

[dramatic music]

- Detectives met again this
morning and they say that they

are frustrated that they
have had no real significant

developments in Susan Powell's
disappearance,

it's like she just
vanished into thin air.

- Three days after Susan's
disappearance,

local media descended onto
West Valley City.

At the same time, local
police where tirelessly

searching the vast desert
were Josh claims

he went camping the night
Susan went missing.

[Reporter] Detectives have
named Josh Powell

a person of interest
in the case.

- I wanted to make sure
that everything

was investigated that needed
to be investigated.

The last thing that the
department wanted

is to have Josh charged

and he get off because
he don't have a body.

[eerie music]

During the course of
conducting our interviews

with friends and family,

one individual shared
that months prior

they got talking about
crime television shows.

- Josh told them the best
place to hide a body

would be in a mine.

There's thousands of these mines

and therefore, ya know, the
body would never be discovered.

Going through Josh's computer
files that we did have

access to, he did research
the area of Simpson Springs

which is out in the west desert.

He researched Ely, Nevada.

He researched all kinds of
remote areas like that

where there are mines.

Did he take her out there
and dump her off in a mine?

Maybe.

- I think people don't realize
here in Utah,

you've got mountains and
it's tough to drive places.

It's rarely just a straight
flat line to get to where

you want to go.

It took a long time just to get
out to the west desert of Utah

to some of these search spots.

Then once you get there,
you've got rolling hills,

ravines, canyons, gullies,

it's just physically difficult
to search some of the spots

that they were searching
for Susan Powell.

- Now, once again, Josh Powell
is a person of interest

in this case.

I've tried to get a
comment from him,

actually a couple days ago
I knocked on his door

and a man on the
other side says,

"He won't comment.

Get off the property".

- The media attention had
already gotten ridiculous,

extreme.

We had people coming to
our house, news cameras,

doing interviews.

[Reporter] Yesterday, Josh
Powell held a press conference

through his brother-in-law
Kirk Graves.

Powell wanted to set the record
straight on speculation that

Josh had something to do with
Susan's disappearance.

[Kirk] The initial reaction
was not rejection by

the family for Josh.

It wasn't, "Oh Josh, what
have you done?"

It's hard to know how to
start a discussion like this.

There are so many
emotions and so few facts.

It was really the next
week that the family

started looking and saying,

"This is just not right,
something's really wrong."

After Susan disappeared,
Josh wouldn't say anything.

He just wouldn't talk.

[Stephanie] By all accounts,
Josh had no problem

expressing his opinion.

Everyone I've talked to said
he talked nonstop,

but after Susan disappeared,
he stopped talking.

When he agreed to go back to
be interviewed by police,

this time with a lawyer,
he wouldn't say a single word.

- Your wife's gone
and you're not...

contributing to the solution
to the problem.

- Chris Jones is on our
top story tonight

from West Valley, Chris?

[Chris] We were at the
Sarah Circle house.

All the media was there,
they'd been there for hours,

and I had gotten
Jennifer Graves' address.

And I thought, well let's just,
ya know, off chance that

maybe he's there.

So myself and our photographer,
we drove over, we parked,

and literally as soon as the
wheels stopped in the snow,

I'm like that's him,
that's Josh.

And we started rolling
the camera.

Josh?

Hey, I'm Chris Jones from
channel two, how are yeah?

- I'm okay.
- Yeah?

We walk up to him,
and I remember thinking

okay, this is going to be
a very sensitive, ya know,

how do you do this interview
without, ya know,

getting him to spook
and run away?

And the boys, I mean, what do
you tell them about their mom?

- I haven't told them anything.

[Chris] As we started to
get into some of those

more difficult questions,
his discomfort level

started to rise,
and so did mine.

He tugged at his hat
and had just like

bad answers for all these
very basic questions.

The report is neither you nor
your wife called in sick

and they said that's not usual,
what are your thoughts on that?

- Ya know, I didn't, uh...

I was somehow thinking
that it was Sunday.

I didn't go to church and I...

I just...

missed a day.

- He says, "Well, I didn't
go to church.

It was Sunday."

But then the next day
would clearly be Monday,

so, um, you know, what exactly
are you talking about?

Did you think there were
two Sundays in a row?

Tell us what
happened that night.

- Yeah, I just...

a lot of times I just go
camping with my boys, ya know.

- He is absolutely
uncomfortable,

but never once does
he ask about,

ya know, "What have you heard?"

Or, "I wonder, where
could she be?"

"Why are you here, why
aren't you looking for her?"

There's absolutely no concern
for her well-being at all.

It appears that your wife left
her cell phone and purse,

do you have any idea-
I mean does she go off

to sort of maybe clear
her head, I mean,

do you have any idea
where she could be?

- No.

- When you see his interview,
you just say,

"Is that the way a guy acts when
his wife has disappeared?"

It's more the way he acts
when she's been murdered...

by him.

- Where is Susan Cox Powell?

Who knew?

How many people knew?

Did anybody know?

- The rest of Josh's family?

Creepy.

- Steve basically
brain-washed them.

- Family can be a salvation

or an absolute destruction.

- The Powell family is not
at all what they seem.

They know something.

[Stephanie] There's
so much more to this case.

Dark secrets and
disturbing revelations.

[dramatic music]

[Stephanie] Susan Cox Powell
went missing

from her West Valley City home
on December 6th, 2009.

[Reporter] Josh tells police
he took their two young sons

camping at midnight in
sub-zero temperatures.

- It makes no sense.

[Ellis] Yeah, if you want,
you can leave.

I have no doubt that
he is responsible;

however, I could not prove it.

- I did hear him tell her,

"Over my dead body will
you have those boys.

Over my dead body will
you leave me."

[Ellis] She had a safe
deposit box and I was like,

"Man, what is in this thing?"

- Covering all my bases.

Making sure if something
happens to me or my family

or all of us that our
assets are documented.

- All of a sudden,

this story about Susan's
disappearance

and Josh as a possible suspect

started to sort of branch out
in another direction.

Steve Powell became
part of the story.

- Josh's father was
obsessed with her

and in love with her in
a sick and twisted way.

- I've been in love with her for

a year and a half
or more now.

- Steve Powell had an alibi the
day Susan went missing.

He was in Washington state with
his three adult children

who lived with him at the time.

If Susan was murdered by Josh,

Steve could not be
physically involved,

but that doesn't mean he
wasn't somehow connected.

Could Steve be the
mastermind behind

Susan's disappearance?

Can a father's influence
prove deadly?

[dramatic music]

- Over time, it became
clear that there was

something off about every-

every member of the
Powell family.

- I am at the head of the table.

[Michael] I am at the
head of the table.

[Steve] Nobody is to defy my...

[Michael] My head [laughing]

[Steve] [laughing] My head.

[Michael] At the table.

- I'm the oldest,

and then Josh,
he's the oldest boy,

then John, who was
mentally ill.

And then Michael,
who is the third,

and finally my youngest
sibling, Alina.

[Steve] So Alina is gonna
try it too.

I bet you she can't
even hang on,

let alone pull herself up.

Oh, she pulled herself up,
look at that!

- Shut up!

- We were polar opposites
to his family.

[Steve] Move that camera
out of your face,

I'm gonna get a still.

Look, look mom, geez.

- Steve's rules were basically
there are no rules,

except for when he says
something or talks,

well, you're listening to him.

[Steve] Turn around this
way okay,

just turn around to the-

there we go.

Well now, turn back this way.

- Aw geez, you
lost your chance.

[Steve] Okay, okay.

- Family can be a salvation

or an absolute destruction.

- When I met the rest
of Josh's family,

it was just like when I met him:

creepy.

[dramatic music]

- We had a strained and
problematic family situation.

My dad was quite divisive
and he would pit the

girls against the
boys frequently.

And was really negative
toward my mother.

He pretty much treated
her like dirt.

- The dynamic of that
Powell family

is very skewed,

it's not your average
American family.

I interviewed Terrica.

- When we were kids,
we wet our beds

and my dad found it
really frustrating.

He would make us go get in a
tub of ice cold water

and lay down all the way until
we were up to our necks in it.

I don't know why he thought
that would be helpful,

but somehow, he thought
that he could just

mentally shock it out of us.

My dad had a
pornography problem

as long as I could remember.

He traveled frequently

and there was a time I went on
a business trip with him.

We were staying in a hotel
and I was in my bed,

snuggled up under my blankets,

and he turned on the television

and started flipping
through channels,

and settled on this...

totally x rated program.

And I'm young.

I'm like, I don't
even know, 10,

11 years old?

And I'm just snuggled up
under my blanket

going, "Oh my gosh,
what is he doing?

I know this is wrong."

Ya know, we've had lots
of conversations about

my father's mental state,

there was a lack of
feeling to other people

and their situations
and their needs.

He just had this focus.

He just wanted to do
what he wanted to do,

and it didn't matter if it
was good for anybody else

or if it was even good for
him in a lot of cases.

He was just tearing
our family apart.

Dividing us into
two opposite groups

and trying to turn us
against our mom.

- He just basically
persuaded those kids,

he brainwashed them.

Josh, Alina, Michael, John.

- My father didn't
genuinely love us.

When you genuinely love someone,

you desire their continual

growth and spiritual
development,

and he didn't.

[Steve] Jenny is probably
the most irrational person

that I personally know.

- [crying] Sorry, give me
a second.

[crying]

Alright, we're gonna
have to take a second.

[eerie music]

- Steve Powell, on the
surface, seems normal,

but then as you peel
it back, there's-

there's just the oddness
of his personality.

You peel it back a
little bit further,

there is what is a clear
obsession with Susan Powell.

[Steve] She's so beautiful.

She knows I'm here.

[Chris] That sexual obsession
that he had for Josh's wife,

that Josh had to know about.

How does that sort of color
everything that Josh does?

[Steve] And I can't go
too far because I'm

hooked up to the TV here.

[Chuck] I suspect that
Steven Powell

knows about Susan's
disappearance.

I think he knows, even if he
wasn't directly involved.

[Steve] Okay, it's on.

- I thought to myself,
"Steve Powell is huge

in this investigation,"
and it wasn't just me,

I mean my supervisor, my peers,
all came to this conclusion.

[Steve] I'd love to spend the
evening in here with Susan

is what I'd like to do.

That's the only person I
would even be interested in.

- We had to prove
or disprove his

involvement in this
investigation.

[dramatic music]

- As the investigation into
Susan's disappearance

progressed, police began
undercover surveillance

of Josh Powell and his family.

[Ellis] We didn't have a body,
so we had to see if

Josh eventually would
say something.

So that either we
can find Susan,

get some more evidence, or
get somewhat of an admission.

- In an exclusive interview,
we spoke with the actual agent

who worked the case.

This officer is still an
active undercover operative,

so his voice and appearance
have been altered.

[dramatic music]

[Ellis] Josh just wasn't
close to anybody else.

He didn't have any like,
close friends, a best friend.

And the person closest
to him was Susan

and then probably the next
person to him was Steve.

And he knew that Steve had
this infatuation for Susan,

so if he spoke to anybody and he
shared any details with anybody,

it was only with Mike Powell,
that's it.

- You see us?

- This is the actual undercover
police recording

of Michael Powell contacting
a satellite imagery company

to obtain pictures of a
salvage yard in Oregon.

What could this bizarre request

have to do with
Susan's disappearance?

[Stephanie] The day after
Susan disappeared,

Josh's sister Alina and
his brother Michael

traveled to Utah to be with
Josh and his children.

Approximately two weeks
later on December 22nd,

Michael and Alina drove back to
Washington in Michael's car,

but after driving a little
more than 470 miles,

they found themselves stranded.

- Michael took $500 and
just left his vehicle

when he probably could have
just had it repaired.

That was very suspicious.

And I think a lot of us thought
that was our big break,

this was our break.

This is where we're going
to get our evidence.

We took specialized canines
with us to see if the dogs

would hit on any decomposition.

And when they released
these dogs,

these dogs went directly to
Michael Powell's vehicle

and indicated on the trunk.

- We sent Michael's vehicle,

we forensically test it,

and the results come back.

- I called Ellis and asked
would the police wire me

and let me go in?

I'll try to get
Josh to confess.

- They're walking us
through all this.

Okay, if this happens, we'll
rush in and take care of things.

It's like walking
into the lion's den.

[eerie music]

[Stephanie] After
discovering indications

of human decomposition in
Michael Powell's truck,

the West Valley City Police
sent swabs to the

Utah State Crime Lab
for DNA testing.

They wanted to know if
Josh murdered Susan,

then recruited his brother
Michael to help

relocate her body.

I wanted to drive the
possible route

surrounding West Valley City.

Ellis Maxwell, the lead
detective in Susan's

disappearance agreed
to go with me.

[Ellis] So, yeah this
would be the route that

Michael would take, right?

So when we learn that Michael's
vehicle was up in Oregon,

we send it to get
forensically tested.

They call me, they say, "Hey we
have a DNA profile."

We're thinking, "Okay
this is our big break."

Results come back...

nothing.

- The West Valley City
Police did find

DNA in Michael Powell's trunk
and compared it to Susan's DNA,

however the sample was
insufficient to make

a complete comparison.

So even though they suspected
Michael Powell's car

had been used to relocate
Susan's body,

they didn't have enough
evidence to make an arrest.

- Looking back, I realize
that Michael was probably

fairly involved in the
whole situation.

I don't know if he actually
helped him plan it,

but based on conversations
that I'd had with Michael,

which were kind of weird,
he seemed to have this over

inflated sense of loyalty to
family where you would do

anything to help cover up
like shameful things.

It seemed like a twisted
weird sense of loyalty.

- It's very likely that he
could have relocated her body

knowing now that the police
now are heavily involved.

- I believe that Josh
probably called him

and asked for help.

I mean, maybe he knew
about it before,

but at least, at the very least,
he called him afterwards

to help cover up what
he had done.

[dramatic music]

I called Ellis and asked him,
would the police support me,

would they wire me
and let go in

and I'll try to get Josh,
my dad, or Michael to confess.

[Ellis] Jennifer Graves was
kind of on the outskirts

with the family and
had been for time.

She says, "What do you think
about sending me in to

Steven Powell's home wired, kind
of like what they do on TV,"

and I thought to myself,
"You're crazy."

[Kirk] Jen had been talking
about this with me,

this idea of putting on a wire.

My wife's kind of gutsy,

and when she finally gets an
idea in her head,

she doesn't let go of it.

[Stephanie] What you're about
to hear is the actual

audio recording from the
undercover police operation

played publicly
for the first time.

- Jennifer Graves' goal was
to try to get Josh

separated from the
rest of the family

to where she could
basically call him out

and say, "What did you
do with Susan?

Where is Susan?"

[Kirk] We're at the
Tacoma Police Department

and they're walking us
through all this,

"Okay, now if this happens,

we'll rush in and take care
of things."

- I knew my dad had an extremely
volatile temper.

I was pretty sure that Josh
had done something to Susan

and that probably my dad
knew what it was

or even participated
and helped with it.

It was extremely nerve racking
walking up to that door.

I really had no idea what
was going to happen.

It's like walking
into the lion's den.

My dad actually ended up
inviting us in.

We had dinner with them.

The police were all,
just waiting.

- We waited in a vehicle
about a street away.

We were close enough we
could pick up the signal,

but we had enough distance that
if they were to come outside

that they wouldn't see us.

- Finally, after dinner,
and they're starting to

clean up and everything,
I just signaled to my husband,

I just pulled Josh off into
a different room.

Unfortunately,
everybody could see.

- Jennifer manages to get
Josh into a study room

and kind of corner him,

just like she
said she would.

- I'm a little nervous
because, at this point,

I'm fully on board with the
idea that Josh has killed

his wife, and how's he going to
treat his sister any different?

- I just started trying to
get him to say something.

And then my dad came in
and interrupted it,

and that kind of just
ended the conversation.

- We went back into the
family room area,

and I haven't gotten
what I wanted.

I was...

feeling really quite desperate

and they're gettin' ready to go.

I gotta do something.

I gotta do something.

So I push Josh and was like,

"Tell me where her body is,
just tell me where her body is."

[dramatic music]

- Two months after
Susan's disappearance,

her family was desperate
for answers

which is when her sister-in-law
Jennifer Graves

offered to wear a wire.

Is it possible that Josh would
confess to his own sister

that he murdered his wife?

[Jennifer] I was feeling
really quite desperate.

I pushed Josh.

I know you've done
something to her

and we just want to
have a regular burial

and just be done with this,

so just tell me where
her body is.

- I'm nervous, I-
my heart's beating.

What kind of information
are we gonna get?

What's he gonna say?

If he confesses,
what's our next move?

- He just immediately
becomes defensive

and he starts reverting
back to his attorney.

Saying that his attorney told
him not to talk to anybody,

so he's kind of almost talking
to her like he's talking

to the police.

And I just was shaking my head,
I'm like this guy's pathetic.

- Josh comes storming back in
and tells his dad,

"Jen's here to try
and get me to confess."

And he's going on and on
and so Steve, of course,

gets very abrasive.

Jen's still trying,
she hasn't given up yet.

[Jennifer] Josh ended up
leaving.

And, we're awkwardly staring
at my dad,

and I'm like, "Well, I got
one more shot."

Let's see if I can get
anything out of my dad.

Well, that- that didn't
really go...

super well.

- I'm thinking,
this might work.

If we piss him off enough,
maybe they'll both snap.

- He becomes very upset
and he starts yelling

at Jennifer and her husband.

Steven's calling her names,
degrading her.

- He doesn't want us to leave
cause that would give up

his opportunity to scream
and yell some more.

- My sister was jumping
right onto the bandwagon

talking about how terrible
Susan was anyways

and who cares if she's gone
kind of thing.

[dramatic music]

- Steven's calling her names,

degrading her as
she's walking away.

She eventually leaves
the residence.

- I just cried...

cause I didn't get
what I wanted.

I didn't get the confession
that I knew was there.

- I think ya know all of us
believed Josh would slip up

and say something to Jennifer
but unfortunately,

we didn't get anything
out of it.

[Stephanie] From the beginning,
we set out to tell

Susan's complete story,

the victim of an
abusive husband.

Domestic violence is the leading
cause of injury to women;

more than car accidents,

muggings, and rapes combined.

We thought we would be telling
the story of domestic abuse

resulting in tragedy,
but as we dug deeper,

we found a completely
new revelation

that the media frenzy missed.

We started with the mission to
uncover who could have been

responsible for
Susan's disappearance,

but the why proved
much more intriguing.

- We need to start asking
a different question

and it's, "Why would someone
hurt his loved one?"

"Why would someone use power
and control against

their partner, their spouse?"

I've done this work
for a number of years

and I don't know too many people
who just, out of the blue,

start hurting someone.

This usually comes from a
history of learned behavior

or exposure.

- There, I'm in here too.

- Josh seemed to be very much
under Steven Powell's thumb.

He never confronted him,
never did what most people

would do which is be
disgusted and angered

by his father acting this way.

[Steve] Move your hand,
move the box.

[Susan] No.

- He had control over Josh.

- The real question is,
"Could Steve Powell

"be the mastermind behind
Susan's disappearance

even though he didn't
physically kill her?"

There's one person who may
be able to provide answers.

- Okay, here we are.

Am I in there at all?
- Yes.

- We've obtained a bombshell
interview with Alina Powell,

the last member of the
Powell family

who holds all the secrets.

She's never revealed her
side of the story until now.

- I don't know, I don't want to
answer any other questions,

thank you.

- Alina Powell, Josh's sister,
is someone has been

very interesting in the case.

Depending on who you ask, some
people view her as an enabler,

a possible accomplice,
and that could be.

But I also saw her as someone
who is very intelligence, who

was in a horrible situation.

- Turn that off.

[Elizabeth] Who, in her own way,
may have been trying to do

what she thought was best.

The sad thing of course is if
she had information about the

case and didn't come forward,
that could have been helpful.

- Alina Powell's account
challenges what we've been told

about Susan Cox Powell's
disappearance

and brings everything
into question.

[dramatic music]

You doing okay?

[Stephanie] Have the
detectives wanted to

talk to you in Utah at all?

- It was like they didn't
really care what I had to say

if it wasn't,
"Yeah, I believe x, y, and z,

you guys are right"
kind of a thing.

[Stephanie] Yeah.

[dramatic music]

- You know, there is a side
to Susan that the

other side doesn't
want you to see,

doesn't want to expose.

[Susan] [giggling]

Stop it.

[laughing]

Your dad zoomed in.

- She was bothered by how much
her family wanted her

to be something else,

and how she felt like
she couldn't be herself.

[Steve] Are you
vandalizing?

- It's a thigh exercise.

[Steve] Thigh exercise, oh?

- I saw her behaving these ways.

She was playing a game with
him and getting into

dangerous territory.

[Susan] No hair, woo hoo!

Do me a favor, when Josh gets
home show him this, okay?

[Steve] Alright, okay.

- I don't think
she was oblivious,

I think she was fully aware
of what she was doing.

[Stephanie] For the
first time ever,

we've pieced together
the entire puzzle.

[Chris] Where is she and
who really could potentially

have killed her?

Police say you're a
person of interest, Josh.

Do you have anything to say?

There was more to every
character in this story.

[Alina] We saw glimpses of
Susan that nobody

on the other side of
this would have seen.

[Reporter] The Powell's launched
a strategy of their own.

Attacking of all people,
Susan.

- A classic method used
by an abuser.

- Susan who was a very
flirtatious sexual being.

[Rose] It's victim blaming.

[Gary] Josh and Steven were
trying to defend themselves

so they're like we've
got Susan's journal,

this will prove our innocence.

[car honking]
[woman] Thank you.

- We've got a lot of
information about Susan,

a lot of it from her journals.

- They used the journals to
come busting in the house.

- We were all in awe of
the house of horrors

we were looking at.

- I thought they were
gonna arrest Josh

and it turned out to be Steve.

- I said, "Hey Josh,
I'm also taking your kids

into protective custody."

[Chuck] I'm afraid for
the children.

I don't want them to
go visit him.

- We told the police
he was gonna try...

something.

- Let's call it what it is,
it is something evil.

[Anne] Everybody was waiting
for Steven to crack.

- Buried deep within the
boxes of video tapes

made by Steve Powell,

we found a secret recording
that may be the final clue.

- Is Susan's father-in-law

the mastermind behind her
disappearance?

[Stephanie] For more
information, go to Oxygen.com.