Susan Powell, 28, the mother of two young children, was reported missing December 6th from her West Valley City home in Utah in a case that police call suspicious. In less than ten days, her husband Josh Powell would be named as a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife.
This all depressingly familiar story of grieving husband/turned person of interest/turned prime suspect was a descriptive that I believe started off with the disappearance of Lacy Peterson, the then eight month pregnant wife of Scott Peterson, on Christmas eve 2002, whilst Scott Peterson went “sturgeon fishing”.
In a similar fashion, John Powell inexplicably decided to take the couple’s two young children, ages 2 and 4, camping in freezing conditions at 12.30 am on December 6th, Monday morning. He has however “forgotten” the exact location where he went camping as there is fresh snow along the trail. He has also refused to submit to police questioning other than to confirm the most mundane of questions. He has also hired an attorney.
Of course none of the above makes him guilty. But it does make him very much a “person of interest”
The sad fact it that one third of all female homicides committed each year is done by an “intimate” to the woman being killed – either an ex/ husband or ex/boyfriend. That statistic itself does make the husband of every spousal homicide an immediate person of interest who needs to be discounted or included in a list of suspects right from the get go.
My advice to husbands contemplating murder of their wives? Do not go fishing. Nor camping. Nor hiking on the Appalachian Trails. Stay at home, order Domino’s pizza in, watch football with your in laws and make sure your murder for hire guy cuts off both hands, both feet and skull, so that there is no identifying features in the inevitable grizzly discovery of the remains of the wife less than two miles away in a swamp.
Anyone with information regarding the case can call Utah West Valley City Police at (801) 840-4000
If you are suffering from domestic abuse and want to stop the cycle of abuse, please call (303) 839-1852
To see how you can help those who have experienced domestic abuse, why not donate to the National Coalition Against Domestic Violence.
