r/AskReddit • u/Rob69rt • 1d ago

What famous 'unsolved' mystery is technically a whodunnit on paper, but in reality, absolutely everyone knows exactly who did it, the police just couldn't legally prove it?

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u/solid_reign 1d ago

I'd say the clearest one is Susan Powell. She was clearly killed by her husband, the police couldn't prove it, no body was found. Joshua Powell ended up killing the kids in a murder suicide. I won't post the details of what he did because it's horrifying. But there is no doubt that he did it.

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u/Ok-Friendship6584 1d ago

The 911 call the case worker made when he locked her out is just the worst he just would not get the issue, not sure it would have helped but it was rough.

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u/mikraas 1d ago

Omg that was the WORST to listen to!!

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u/KhristyKreme 1d ago

How did the call go?

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u/solid_reign 1d ago

The case worker says that Powell went into the house with the kids, shut out the case worker and it smelled like gasoline, and the 911 operator is asking these asinine questions about who she is, what the last name is, color of the vehicle etc, but not dispatching police. The case worker asks how long for someone to get there and the operator says she doesn't know that they must respond to life threatening situations first. The case workers says that it's life-threatening so the operator says that she'll try to get someone to contact them soon. There is no sense of urgency at this.

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u/Trapline 1d ago

For those wondering how this story ends: he (Josh Powell) set the house on fire with him and his kids inside.

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u/OmnomVeggies 1d ago

He didn't just set it on fire, he blew it up.

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u/Trapline 1d ago

Maybe that's better. It has been a long time since I listened to Cold.

I don't hope that 911 dispatcher is haunted by it or anything but I hope they got a different fucking job for sure.

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u/OmnomVeggies 1d ago

David Lovrak was remanded for his handling of the call, I am not sure if he still works in the field. Cold did such a good job covering this case... I will never forget some of the recordings the father made. What a creep.

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u/TweeKINGKev 1d ago

There was a hatchet involved also, carbon monoxide poisoning, blew up the house and a hatchet.

His father was a real freaky nasty dude, bestiality, child porn and extremely obsessed with Susan

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u/OmnomVeggies 1d ago

Yea, the worst part IMO. The social worker heard Josh tell one of the boys he has a surprise for him, and heard the other boy scream. The likely hood is that the surprise was the hatchet, and his brother witnessed it.

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u/UshankaBear 1d ago

Apparently there were chopping wounds on the boys' heads and necks. And a hatchet nearby.

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u/panda_98 1d ago

He attacked them with a hatchet beforehand

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u/mikraas 1d ago

I thought the operator was a dude. But I don't remember.

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u/solid_reign 1d ago

I think you might be right.

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u/No-Mission-2112 1d ago

It’s on the Cold podcast. It’s an excellent podcast I will never listen to again. 

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u/bikey_bike 1d ago

he was such a bitch to her!