I was unaware that this much detail had been released about her journal, could you give your source please?
You're right, Bartleby! :blushing:
I couldn't find any article that specifically says the three statements I repeated came directly from Susan's journal. The articles state only that the journals contained threats Joshua had made against Susan.
I must have assumed the other information was also contained in the journals because of the following reasons >>>
None of Susan's church friends have admitted to knowing about:
1. Susan's note of NO suicide - or never voluntarily leaving the boys.
2. Susan's separate bank account.
3. That Susan made plans of where to stay when she escaped from Josh.
Kiirsti implied that whoever was making the above statements was not telling the truth because Susan told her everything and Susan had never mentioned those things to her. Kiirsti said she had never heard
ANY OF IT from Susan.
Therefore, I assumed that these stories were coming from Susan's coworker-friends at the Wells Fargo Bank -- and probably at least some of the statements are written within Susan's journals.
I find it puzzling that Susan reportedly said she was poised to return to Washington with the help of her parents -- when Mom and Dad Cox didn't seem to know anything about Susan perhaps leaving Josh and returning home.
The first article specifically mentions that Susan had plans of where to stay if she and the boys ran from Josh.
Note, Susan began marriage counseling in late summer which corresponds to her decision to fast, pray and stay in the marriage.
I have snipped text we've read many times and that doesn't relate to the marriage counseling or what Susan's friends knew.
(bolding & underlining is mine)
Susan Powell mulled divorce, plan to escape husband, friends say
By Brooke Adams
And Melinda Rogers
The Salt Lake Tribune
Updated: 12/22/2009 08:49:16 AM MST
A year before she disappeared, Susan Powell told a wide circle of friends she was preparing for the worst if she sought a divorce: that her husband might try to kidnap their sons and break her financially.
She said she had set up a separate bank account, arranged a place to stay if she decided to leave, and had informally written a will, according to friends who requested anonymity because they are not authorized by police to speak about the investigation. And Susan Powell made sure many knew of her preparations.
Susan Powell ultimately decided to stay and work on the relationship after fasting and praying.
<<snip>>
Friends said they told her the relationship wasn't healthy and confirm that they encouraged Susan Powell to leave her husband, whom they have described as controlling and emotionally abusive. A friend has said Susan Powell was at one point poised to return to Washington with the aid of her parents.
Joshua Powell, 33, was upset his wife was depositing money into an account he didn't have access to, said friends who added that they encouraged Susan to stand up to him. Family members have said the couple got marital counseling at Susan Powell's urging.
McLachlan said he did not know of any financial motive, such as a life insurance policy, that could give anyone an incentive to harm her.
<<snip>>
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14042094?source=most_viewed
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Searching for Susan Powell: Neighbor describes husband's odd behavior
<<snip>>
"Josh is really possessive about his things," Peterson said. "He treated everything as his possessions, including his wife and kids. He was very controlling."
Peterson is a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and attends the same ward as the Powells. He and Susan Powell became close late this summer, when she asked him questions about marriage counseling, which Peterson and his wife previously had gone through.
On the day of the Powells' first meeting with the LDS Family Service counselor, she told Peterson about Joshua Powell's controlling behavior, and how he had become more possessive and obsessive since moving to Utah five years ago. She told Peterson she wanted her husband to become active in the LDS Church again and get his temple recommend by their anniversary in 2010, or she was seriously considering divorcing him.
"She went to the marriage counselor hoping it would save their marriage," Peterson said.
But Joshua's behavior showed a lack of caring for Susan's well-being, Peterson said.
<<snip>>
Joshua Powell also became increasingly erratic.
Powell once yelled at the Petersons for taking off their shoes and socks in his home, saying he'd have to spend all night cleaning the floors from the germs on their bare feet.
Susan Powell talked with Peterson about her first four marriage counseling sessions, but stopped after Peterson counseled her to leave her husband, whom he didn't see making any effort to improve their relationship.
"I told her she was a beautiful, talented woman who could be so much happier in a different situation," Peterson said. "I told her her husband was an energy suck and no one could stand to be around him."
Peterson said Susan Powell wanted to be more social and have friends over more often, but fellow ward members "couldn't stand" Joshua and would avoid him.
Even though Peterson and Susan Powell stopped talking about the Powell marriage, they stayed in touch. She sent him an e-mail thanking him for a backyard play set for her two boys, saying it would be great to have next summer to entertain the boys while she did yard work.
"This was not a woman who wanted to leave," Peterson said.
http://www.sltrib.com/ci_14058397?source=most_viewed
********************************************************************************************
E-mails from Susan Powell told of marriage struggles
Friends of Susan Powell turn over correspondence from 2008 to W.V. police
By Pat Reavy
Deseret News
Published: Tuesday, Dec. 22, 2009 10:52 p.m. MST
WEST VALLEY CITY E-mails sent last year by Susan Powell to friends told of marriage struggles between her and her husband to the point that she seemed to be in fear of him.
Several of her friends, who wished to remain anonymous, confirmed to the Deseret News that they had turned over to police e-mails that she sent them in June and July of 2008, the point when all friends agreed the Powells' marriage was at its worst.
One friend confirmed that in one of the e-mails, Susan Powell said she was afraid Josh Powell might kidnap her two boys, divorce her or worse.
The friend said Susan Powell had talked to her one day about something she had written and left in her desk at work.
"She had mentioned about writing something so that no one would ever think she committed suicide. She said it would be so her boys would know that she would never kill herself, because she would never leave her boys alone," the friend said.
"I didn't really know the context in which she was talking. I didn't even know what to say to that."
The friend said that was the only time Susan Powell brought up that topic.
West Valley police on Tuesday declined to talk about any potential evidence in the case. Other friends had reported earlier that a notebook Susan Powell kept in her desk at work at Wells Fargo was among the items seized by police.
The notebook, according to one source, detailed threats allegedly made about a year ago against her.
<<snip>>
For Susan Powell's friends and family, a red flag to them that foul play is likely involved is that she never would have left her two young boys, ages 2 and 4.
"She wouldn't even go visiting teaching for an hour without the boys," one friend said.
Susan Powell remained active in her LDS ward, even after her husband stopped going to church, according to friends. She was in the Relief Society and recently had accepted a new calling prior to her disappearance.
Friends say 2008 was a tough year for the Powells' marriage. They confirmed previous reports that Josh Powell was very controlling and that his wife had confided to a few friends that she was considering whether to leave him.
"She'd talk about how she was debating about how she should get divorced. But she wanted to give him a chance to change to how he was when they first met. She said if they tried counseling, she'd give him another chance," a friend said, but added, "I don't know if anything was really changing."
"She prayed about it. She felt like she should stay and keep working on the marriage," another friend said.
One friend said counseling was supposed to be once a week, but they didn't always keep to that schedule.
The Powells filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2007. Money issues seemed to continue to be a point of contention between the couple in the years following.
But as far as friends could tell, Josh and Susan Powell were doing much better in 2009. And despite her e-mails, friends say she always tried to be optimistic.
"She's just very outgoing and bubbly. When she was having a hard time, you wouldn't know. She always tried to be positive and uplifting to others," a friend said.
But friends say she also started standing up more to her husband. She gained more confidence, they said.
"They knew how to push each other's buttons," a friend said.
Friends also noted that going on a spur of the moment camping trip wasn't necessarily out of the ordinary for Josh Powell. One friend recalled a time when Susan Powell had to get a ride home from work from another person because of a miscommunication with her husband. He decided one afternoon to take his two boys camping, the friend said. They returned about 3 a.m. because it got too cold, and the boys subsequently got sick.
"I don't know if he thinks things through sometimes," the friend said. "He just kind of picks up and decides to do it."
<<snip>>
As for whether Josh Powell had anything to do with his wife's disappearance, at least one friend didn't want to go there.
"At the very beginning, I was really hoping he had nothing to do with it, just because he has a different personality. The way he came across on the news wasn't good for people who didn't know him," the friend said. "At this point, I don't want to say anything. It's hard to talk about, anyway."
http://www.deseretnews.com/article/...-Susan-Powell-told-of-marriage-struggles.html
*******************************************************************************************
This seems to indicate it was Susan's COWORKERS who knew the most about Susan's marriage problems and FEAR of Josh -- and were the main informants to the media.
(b&u mine)
UPDATE: Susan's friends have been handing over notes and e-mails from as far back as last summer that portray a woman who feared her husband.
Susan had warned that Josh might kidnap their children, file for divorce or worse. She was setting up alternate bank accounts so he couldn't steal her money and had written an informal will, just in case.
Police have confiscated a journal she kept at work detailing the threats against her. And one of her coworkers said she once found a chilling note written by Susan that described how she'd never commit suicide. She had written it, says the coworker, so that her boys would know their mom would never desert them should she ever disappear.
http://blogs.seattleweekly.com/dailyweekly/2009/12/stockbroker_susan_powell_still.php
