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Posted: 12:32 p.m. Friday, March 30, 2012
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TACOMA, Wash. —
A search warrant unsealed this afternoon has provided a series of revelations about Josh Powell's apparent involvement in his wife's disappearance, including that blood was found at the couple's Utah home after Susan Cox Powell disappeared.
The revelations raise more questions about why Powell wasn't charged in the 2009 disappearance of Susan Cox Powell -- before he killed himself and their two young sons in a gas-fueled inferno.
Among the discoveries revealed publicly for the first time on Friday:
See complete search warrant here
After the warrant was unsealed, Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist said that under Washington state law, there was enough evidence there to arrest Josh Powell.
"Based on the facts that we now know, I can say that the case against Josh Powell for the murder of Susan Powell is one that we would have charged," Lindquist said. "I don't know the law in Utah, I don't know what facts were available to the Utah D.A., and therefore I can't speak to the decision in Utah."
Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer said his agency would have moved to arrest Powell, given the evidence that came out Friday.
"There's circumstantial evidence, there's direct evidence, there's motive -- we would have made an arrest," he said.
The new information came to light after a judge ordered that a search warrant that led to the arrest of Josh Powell's father, Steven, be unsealed.
Asked why they didn’t alert Washington authorities when Susan Cox Powell’s blood was first identified, Michael Powell (no relation) of the West Valley City police called it “an interesting question.”
“There’s a lot of things that have to be considered, and the mere fact that we have an active investigation – not all details can be released,” Michael Powell said.
Detectives in West Valley City are still investigating Susan Cox Powell as a missing person -- not a victim of homicide -- despite the evidence that came to light Friday.
Earlier, sources hadtold KIRO 7 South Sound reporter Kevin McCarty the warrant would contain significant information relating to the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, as well as Steven Powell's criminal case. Follow his updates @KevinKIRO on twitter.com.
Steven Powell, 62, was arrested in September on 14 counts of voyeurism and a single count of possessing child pornography. Investigators claimed they found thousands of hours of secretly recorded video Powell had taken of neighbors, including children. They allege Powell also had explicit photos of his missing daughter-in-law, Susan Cox Powell, which were taken without her knowledge.
The evidence was found after a search of Powell's home in Graham last summer by police from West Valley City, Utah. Detectives from that department notified Pierce County Sheriff's investigators that they had found the images and video while searching computers taken from Powell's home as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell in December 2009. Joshua Powell is now considered a suspect in that case. He died February 5 along with the couple's two sons, Charlie and Braden, after he assaulted the boys with a hatchet and set fire to a home in Graham during what was supposed to be supervised visitation.
Steven Powell's attorneys wanted the warrant unsealed as part of their motion to suppress the evidence used to charge him.
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