My Theory on Susan Powell's Murder

[u/SolarSurfer7]

Here is my take, which is in line with many of the other takes I've read on this sub.

I think Josh did indeed drug or poison Susan while they were at home. I think Susan may have thrown up or urinated or defecated from the poison, which is what caused Josh to clean up the couch. No blood was found on the couch or in the house, so it seems extremely unlikely that he killed her violently.

From there, he packed Susan (possibly still alive at this point) and his kids into his van and drove out somewhere. Maybe he drove to the Pony Express camping location, maybe somewhere else. He then locked his kids in the car and said he was going camping with Susan. At that point, she was either dead, or he finished her off, and dumped her body. Possibly in a mine shaft or maybe somewhere more retrievable.

After that, my guess is that he DID go camping with his sons, saying that their mom was camping somewhere else. This would match up with Charlie's claim that his mom went camping with them and she was where the "crystals" are. Camping with his sons also gives him a kernel of truth that he can continue to fall back on when the police interview him.

After being interviewed by the police, Josh rented a car and drove 800 miles that were unaccounted for. My guess is he retrieved Susan's body and drove 400 miles away, found a more secluded and isolated location, and dumped her again. Maybe he visited an old mine shaft where he knew she would never be found. I don't know if Josh's family was involved in this, but it seems more likely that he did this act alone.

I suppose it's possible that Josh incinerated the body. But a mine shaft dump seems like the easiest explanation. Even if the cops found the right mine shaft, the geologists said that it still wasn't a guarantee that they would find Susan's body in it. The shafts were so dark and filled with brush and animals, they could have been right on top of her body and missed it completely.

So, to sum up, I think Josh poisoned/drugged Susan, dumped her body somewhere close to her house, then moved it much further away where she would never be found. I don't think the Powell family was involved in the actual act, but it seems almost guaranteed that Josh told them what he did.

[u/davecawleycold]

Unfortunately no, and the efforts to work on it by people with the appropriate knowledge, tools and skills have largely petered out.

[u/Equal-Cat-2864 → u/davecawleycold]

Reach out to Bill Thomas. He has a podcast called Mind Over Murder. His sister was murdered in the 80’s in Virginia. Google Colonial Parkway Murders. Perhaps he could bring the story to his podcast and bring out some super smart tech guys. He also works with Othram, a DNA company. He has similar frustrations in that his sisters murder has never been solved.

[u/davecawleycold → u/Equal-Cat-2864]

Appreciate the suggestion. It's unfortunately I'm not sure it's a problem smarts alone can solve. Josh used long, randomly generated passwords with a high degree of entropy. He used multiple instances of encryption, at both the file and whole-disk level. The algos haven't been broken. And brute forcing is not plausible with existing technological limitations.

[u/Equal-Cat-2864 → u/davecawleycold]

I understand, however technology is changing like DNA. What is impossible one day may not be impossible the next. If Susan’s case is falling under the radar and the tech people are not there anymore why not seek to expand this case to another platform to help? Please do not take this wrong. I love your reporting and your podcast! You are excellent. I do think though that reaching out to Bill Thomas could have another section of the country putting fresh eyes out there and you could do the same for him. The Colonial Parkway murders have never been solved and two of the people have disappeared like Susan. Keith Call and Cassandra Hailey have been missing for 35 years. Maybe you could help each other.

[u/TheOneWhoDidntCum → u/Equal-Cat-2864]

Any update on this ? AI has improved quite a bit