Chuck Cox's agenda to control
Josh and Susan Powell's property thwarted

In December 2009 and only two weeks after Susan Powell left, some of Josh's friends began asking Josh's permission to enter Josh and Susan Powell's home to take some of Josh and Susan's personal property on behalf of Chuck Cox. John Hellewell stated that Chuck Cox had told him to enter the Powell family's West Valley City, Utah home and retrieve some of the Powell family's personal property. At the time, Josh was not at Josh and Susan's home in West Valley City, Utah. Josh declined his friends' requests to enter the home in his absence.

Chuck Cox's strange relationship with Jennifer Graves

When Josh Powell returned to the Powell family home in West Valley City, Utah, Jennifer Graves tried to carry out Chuck Cox's plan of removing some of Josh and Susan Powell's personal property from their home.

On the evening of January 7, 2010, Jennifer and Kirk Graves came over to the Powell home unannounced with the stated purpose of helping Josh pack for a planned move. It was not long before Jennifer Graves' and Chuck Cox's intentions became clear.

Jennifer and Kirk Graves were working at the request of Chuck Cox to rifle through Josh and Susan's belongings and to take control of the Powells' personal property including journals and photo albums. After a short while, Jennifer Graves tried to remove some personal property from the home, but she was stopped by Josh's brother. Jennifer Graves then looked at Josh and said, "We need to go now and we'll be taking these things to our van for Chuck Cox." Jennifer pointed to a pile of furniture, gifts, and a box of personal memorabilia and miscellaneous items. Jennifer and Kirk Graves would have stolen the items, as Jennifer Graves stole Susan Powell's car keys, if Josh and his brother had not been in the area to stop them.

Josh declined Jennifer Graves' demand and she immediately became irate in front of Josh's mother, Josh's brother and a friend named Jason. Jennifer Graves started hysterically yelling, "What do you want these things for?" Jennifer Graves threatened to call Chuck Cox if Josh didn't immediately allow her to take the items. Jennifer Graves also yelled some additional demands and morbid statements. Josh told Jennifer Graves, "You may not take any property from our home." Josh would not bend to Jennifer Graves' tirade so Jennifer Graves called Chuck Cox and handed the phone to Josh.

Chuck Cox angrily berated Josh saying that he didn't want to "listen to any of [Josh's] crap." Chuck Cox said he had spent the day waiting to learn more about a body which was apparently found that day in Wendover, Nevada. Chuck Cox proceeded to make demands over the phone. Josh declined Chuck Cox's demands as being ridiculous under the circumstances. No one has the right to send someone into another person's home to steal or even demand property. Josh told Chuck Cox that Chuck Cox should have contacted Josh directly because it would have given Josh a chance to consider Chuck Cox's request.

Josh Powell's regret, Susan Powell's property

In the end, Josh generously allowed Jennifer Graves and Chuck Cox to take a piece of Susan's furniture (her deacon's bench, shown here) and Susan's Xmas gifts that Chuck and Judy Cox had mailed to Susan before she left. Josh did not allow them to remove any of his family's personal memorabilia. When Josh handed over the gifts as demanded by Jennifer Graves and Chuck Cox, Josh assumed they would find their way back to Susan soon enough.

By February 2010, however, Josh found one of Susan's gifts that Jennifer Graves had taken from the Powell family home. It was at John and Kiirsi Hellewell's house. Josh recognized Susan's gift immediately. In fact, it still had the shipping label attached: "from Chuck and Judy Cox to Susan Powell." The Hellewells said Jennifer Graves dropped it off at the Hellewells' home saying, "We don't need this because we already have one. You can have it." Josh recalls the large box said "Magic bullet" on it. Kiirsi told Josh that she and John had no intention of opening or using Susan's gift as offered by Jennifer Graves, because the Hellewells intended to save it for Susan. Josh too had been saving those gifts in anticipation of Susan's safe return.

We do not know what the Coxes and Graves did with Susan's deacon's bench, but because of the Coxes' and Graves' indiscretions, Josh regrets having trusted Jennifer Graves and Chuck Cox with any of Susan's belongings. From the beginning and for many months, Josh gave Chuck Cox and even Jennifer Graves the benefit of the doubt. However, this and other experiences have taught Josh valuable lessons about handling Jennifer Graves and Chuck Cox.

Updated November 22, 2010