14 DAY TRIAL // Evidence has revealed that missing Utah mother Susan Powell was being spied on by voyeur father-in law Steven Powell.
Police have seized 4,500 photos from Powell's residence, public records revealing they were of an explicit nature.
Susan went missing in 2009, on December 6. Police in West Valley City heard as, two days after Susan disappeared, Steven told his employer he wanted some days off to go camping with his son Josh.
Steven was arrested on voyeurism charges, and convicted on 14 counts in May. He had been filming two young girls in the neighborhood – a 9-year-old and an 8-year-old. Some of the footage was captured as the girls were bathing.
It is believed he had an obsession with Susan, after police found a journal detailing fantasies he had with her, which were of a romantic nature. According to The Salt Lake Tribune, 2,330 pages, written on 17 spiral notebooks, stand as proof of his vivid imagination.
“The fact is, I can hardly control myself when it comes to her,” Powell wrote about Susan.
The Examiner reports that, among the pictures taken by police from his residence, were photos of the girls he was convicted of spying on, pics of Susan, as well as snapshots of several other unknown women, who didn't know they were being photographed.
In some cases, he used a mirror to spy on her, placing it under the bathroom door. In others, the shots were taken in public, as she was driving, sitting in her car or walking. Officers believe he was following her in another vehicle. In his journal, he claimed that Susan was an “exhibitionist,” and refered to himself as a “voyeur.”
He had confessed his love to his daughter-in-law, who refused him. He managed to get a hold of Powell's childhood journals, which he copied and read. In a drawer in his room, some of the woman's personal items were found – underwear and used leg waxing papers.