Friend of Susan Powell says husband, father-in-law are lying

Josh Powell, foreground right, husband of missing Utah mother Susan Cox Powell, talks with one of approximately two dozen law enforcement office officers from the West Valley City Utah Police Department and Pierce County Sheriff’s Department who are investigating leads in the two-year-old case, at the home of Josh’s father, Steve Powell, in Puyallup, Wash., Thursday, Aug. 25, 2011. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Dean J. Koepfler)

After the husband and father-in-law of a missing Puyallup woman opened up to the media on Thursday, a good friend of the Susan Cox Powell says people shouldn’t believe what they’re saying.

In an interview with ABC News, Steven Powell, the father-in-law of Susan Powell, said he had a very sexual relationship with his daughter-in-law.

“Susan was very, very sexual with me. She was very flirtatious. I’m her father-in-law. She would do a lot of things […] She did it. I did it. We interacted in a lot of sexual ways,” Powell said.

Kiirsi Helewell, a friend of Susan Powell’s, who met the couple when they first moved to Utah, tells 97.3 KIRO FM’s Dori Monson Show that Susan did not have anything close to this type of relationship with her father-in-law.

“It is a total lie. Susan would never ever allow her father-in-law to touch her. She hated him. She told me many times that she hated him. She could not stand him. She only put up with visiting him when they went to Washington to visit their families because it was Josh’s family and he deserved to spend time with his family.”

Listen to interview: Kiirsi Helewell, friend of Susan Powell

Helewell elaborated, saying Susan had confided in her, telling her about things her father-in-law had done in the past to make her uncomfortable.

“When she and Josh were first married, as newlyweds, they had moved in with Steve for a short time to save some money so to get their own place. They were living in his dining room because there wasn’t a room available for them, and they had a curtain hung across it,” says Helewell. “One day she caught her father-in-law trying to look through the curtain while she was getting dressed.”

Helewell says Susan was very upset about it, but decided to give her father-in-law the benefit of the doubt. His behavior continued.

“She kept catching him trying to look at her, and saying things to her that made her feel really uncomfortable.”

Helewell says Susan Powell finally put her foot down after her father-in-law made a move on her.

“One day he tried to kiss her in a romantic way, and she was so disgusted and horrified that she told Josh they were moving out immediately.”

Helewell says Steven Powell continued to harass Susan Powell even after they moved to Utah, sending her a package of pornographic photos.

Beyond the statements made by Steven Powell, Helewell also questions Josh Powell’s reactions to his father’s media revelations.

“It is sick and I don’t know why Josh is OK with it.”

Not that Helewell trusts what Josh Powell is doing. She says ever since the first day Susan Powell was confirmed missing, she’s felt Josh was lying.

Helewell was one of the early people contacted when Susan and Josh Powell didn’t show up for work. She says at first, they thought the whole family was missing.

“Their car was gone. The police broke into their house because nobody was answering the door and there were no fresh tracks in the snow. They hadn’t shown up for work and the boys hadn’t shown up for their daycare,” says Helewell. “We thought maybe they’d gone for a drive and gone off a cliff or something.”

When Josh finally showed up at home without Susan, Helewell says her worry turned to something else.

“When Josh got home that night with the boys and Susan was not with him and he did not have a believable story, my worry turned to dread. I wondered what had happened.”

From day one, Helewell says she hasn’t bought Josh’s story.

“I knew it was absolutely unbelievable and not true in any way because Susan loved her boys. She’s a wonderful mother. She would never ever have allowed them to be taken camping in the desert in the middle of winter. It would not have happened.”

Helewell originally shared what she knows of the events in a personal blog post. She says throughout the investigation, Susan’s father has asked friends and family not to accuse Josh Powell and to keep the investigation focused on finding Susan.

Helewell says the information she shares publicly now is not new information. She says she has shared all of it with police, but she chosen to go public now because, “the level of abuse against Susan by her own husband and father-in-law has escalated and reached new lows.” She continues, “I will not stand by and see my dear friend’s privacy, honor, personal feelings, and life violated in this evil and debase way.”

By JAMIE GRISWOLD, MyNorthwest.com Editor

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