SEATTLE — The father-in-law of missing Utah mother Susan Powell is nearing the end of his prison sentence and will likely be released to a Tacoma home next month.
Steve Powell, 63, is projected to be released in the first few days of November. He will be supervised by a community corrections officer, is required to undergo sex offender treatment and will wear a GPS locator for the first 30 days of his release.
Corrections spokesman Chad Lewis said Powell will also have to get permission from his community corrections officer in order to leave Pierce County.
Powell has been serving time on voyeurism charges for secretly recording images of young neighbor girls. He was sentenced in June 2012.
Anne Bremner, an attorney who has worked with Susan Powell’s family and the family of the two girls in Steve Powell’s voyeurism case, said there are concerns about Powell’s scheduled release.
“Many were hoping for more justice than this,” Bremner said.
Susan Powell disappeared from her home in December 2009. Her husband, Josh Powell, was a focus of the investigation until he killed himself and the couple’s two children last year in an explosive house fire.
Utah authorities have said they do not believe Steve Powell was directly involved with Susan Powell’s disappearance but may know more about it than he has let on. He had a sexual obsession with Susan Powell that was thoroughly documented in journals seized by police.
Investigators now believe Josh Powell’s brother, Michael, helped him dispose of Susan’s body. Michael committed suicide by jumping off a parking garage in Minneapolis three months ago.
