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SALT LAKE CITY — Recently filed court documents in Washington state say Steven Powell will be released from prison March 23.
But as Powell prepares to leave incarceration, the battle over what will happen to his Puyallup, Wash., home continues.
Powell, 63, was convicted in May 2012 of 14 counts of voyeurism for taking photographs of two neighbor girls, then ages 8 and 10, with a telephoto lens from his house while they were nude or partially nude in their bathroom.
He has been incarcerated in the Monroe Correctional Complex in Washington and will be placed on probation for 30 months once he is released.
The girls he took pictures of were awarded $1.8 million in a civil judgment that Powell didn't contest until after the court's ruling was final. In December, a judge ordered the Pierce County Sheriff's Office to sell Powell's largest non-exempt asset, his house at 18615 94th Ave. Court East in Puyallup, to start paying off his debt.
Since then, Powell, acting as his own attorney, has made several attempts to prevent his house from being sold in a series of handwritten motions. In his latest motion, he asks that the property be declared as "homestead," which would prevent authorities from putting it on the auction block.
The girls' mother, along with attorney Anne Bremner, filed documents in court earlier this month saying that Powell doesn't present any valid arguments and has no way to pay his mortgage. Powell also has stated he does not plan on living at that address once he is released, according to court documents.
According to a letter from the Washington Department of Corrections addressed to the mother on Feb. 10, Powell will be released on March 23. As of Feb. 28, there was no address listed where he will be living and corrections officials said he may be listed as homeless if an address isn't provided.
Powell is the father-in-law of Susan Cox Powell, who has been missing from her West Valley City home since 2009. Investigators believe she was murdered by her husband, Josh Powell, who later killed himself and their two young sons.
On Friday, a Pierce County Superior Court judge denied Steven Powell's latest motion for the judge to reconsider her previous decision not to delay the sale of his house. This Friday, the judge is scheduled to hear arguments about whether Powell's property can be declared as "homestead."
The house was originally scheduled to be auctioned off on Feb. 7 but was put on hold because of a last-minute court filing by Powell.
In court documents, Bremner referred to Powell's numerous court filings as "a meritless flurry of motions." Her office is also requesting that the judge order Powell not to file any more motions regarding the Puyallup house for a year, according to court documents. They believe Powell is simply trying to avoid paying his creditors.
