Podcast Summary: The Susan Powell Case Files | Mystery Metal

Podcast: Cold (KSL Podcasts)
Episode: Bonus Episode 10: Mystery Metal
Host: Dave Cawley
Date: December 5, 2024

Main Theme and Purpose

This special bonus episode of Cold revisits a rarely discussed but fascinating piece of evidence from the Susan Powell investigation: a mysterious chunk of melted metal found in Josh Powell’s minivan right after Susan’s disappearance in 2009. Host Dave Cawley reopens this cold lead, tracking its origins, connecting it with Josh’s suspicious pre-disappearance behavior, and investigating—both forensically and experimentally—what this “mystery metal” actually was, and why Josh wanted it destroyed. The episode also revisits the days leading up to Susan’s disappearance, giving listeners pivotal background details while exploring how circumstantial anomalies may point to Josh Powell’s guilt.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Josh Powell’s Background and Financial Picture

• Josh Powell, obsessed with becoming a self-made millionaire, made questionable financial decisions, including starting a failed high school woodworking business, overspending on tools, going bankrupt (2007), and then taking out a $1 million life insurance policy on Susan (00:00–01:05).
• Dave Cawley establishes a pattern: “He bragged to his friends about spending thousands of dollars on tools. He didn’t have clients enough to justify the expense, but that hardly mattered.” (00:38, Dave Cawley)

2. Introduction of the ‘Mystery Metal’

• The mystery metal was found in Josh’s minivan, the day after Susan disappeared, by police. It had been forensically tested by the FBI, but remained unidentified for years—until Dave’s recent investigation (01:46–01:51).
  • Notable quote:
    “It was forensically tested and nobody could identify what that object was.” (01:46, Detective Ellis Maxwell)

3. Josh’s Odd Trip to Air Gas—Eyewitness Account

• Andrew Robinson, an employee at Air Gas, recounts his encounter with Josh Powell on November 25, 2009, a week and a half before Susan’s disappearance (02:35–07:22).
  • Josh enters the store late in the afternoon, lingers for over an hour, and claims to need welding tools to “make jewelry,” but ends up buying a much more advanced cutting kit and cylinders used for steel cutting, which Robinson finds odd.
    • “Yeah, that struck me as being odd. It was a little bit of overkill for some cutting equipment to be involved in the making of jewelry.” (05:23, Andrew Robinson)
  • Josh returns post-Thanksgiving to swap the cylinders, seeming “a little bit irritated”—another red flag (07:12, Andrew Robinson).

4. The Timeline Around Susan’s Disappearance

• Josh googles welding instructions, creates an encrypted file, then moves those files to a secure partition days before Susan vanishes. No one has cracked the file to see its contents (08:05–08:41).
• Susan, Josh, and their sons are all missing on Monday, December 7, 2009; Josh later reappears without Susan, leading to the police’s initial interviews and searches (08:41–10:41).

5. Police Search and Evidence Gathering

• Photos taken on Monday show the torch in the garage, unused; by Tuesday, after police leave him alone in the house, the torch tip is sooty—proof it was used during that time (11:47–13:03).
• Melted metal, burnt wire, and charred sheetrock are found hidden in a garbage bag in the minivan’s floor compartment during the Tuesday search (11:47–13:03).

6. Identification of the Mystery Metal: Experiment and Analysis

• Dave traces the melted metal’s likely origin to an impact driver from a cordless tool kit Josh bought with a Home Depot card in Susan’s name (16:00–17:31).
• He notes that every tool from the kit can be accounted for except the impact driver. The metal found contains steel, calcium, and strontium—a combo consistent with power tool motors (17:31–19:39).
• Dave and a friend replicate the melting process with an oxyacetylene torch, reducing a similar impact driver to an almost identical chunk of slag, matching the evidence photos (19:39–21:31).
  • Notable quote:
    “That torch certainly would be capable of reducing that to a molten clump of different materials.” (21:17, Andrew Robinson on the melting experiment)

7. Why Destroy a Power Tool?

• Dave and Andrew discuss why Josh would go to the trouble to destroy a power tool right after police attention intensified.
  • “The only reason I can conceive why Josh would have taken the time and effort to destroy such a tool…was if it somehow linked him to Susan’s murder.” (22:33, Dave Cawley)
  • Andrew suggests the destruction was likely intended to hide evidence—possibly the weapon used in a crime (22:42–23:11).
• The episode further establishes that Josh had a habit of deleting records and encrypting files that might implicate him.

8. Chilling Flashback – The Seed of an Idea?

• Dave finds a family home video from 2006 where Charlie, as a toddler, play-acts drilling Josh’s foot with a toy drill. Josh responds, “That could really hurt someone.” Dave reflects on whether this moment, chilling in hindsight, hints at Josh’s later, grim innovations (23:13–24:32).
  • Notable quote:
    “That could really hurt someone.” (24:29, Josh Powell in home video)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments (with Timestamps)

• “It was forensically tested and nobody could identify what that object was.”
  – Detective Ellis Maxwell (01:46)

• “Yeah, that struck me as being odd. It was a little bit of overkill for some cutting equipment to be involved in the making of jewelry.”
  – Andrew Robinson (05:23)

• “That torch certainly would be capable of reducing that to a molten clump of different materials.”
  – Andrew Robinson (21:17)

• “The only reason I can conceive why Josh would have taken the time and effort to destroy such a tool the moment the eyes of police were off him was if it somehow linked him to Susan’s murder, whether he premeditated it... the destruction of that believed cordless drill was involved somehow in Susan’s demise.”
  – Andrew Robinson (22:33–23:11)

• “That could really hurt someone.”
  – Josh Powell (24:29, home video)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• 00:00 – 01:05: Josh Powell’s background and financial situation
• 01:46 – 02:35: Introduction of the mystery metal
• 02:35 – 07:22: Andrew Robinson’s detailed account of Josh’s suspicious Air Gas purchase
• 08:05 – 08:41: Josh’s encrypted ‘welding instructions’ and related computer activity
• 08:41 – 10:41: Timeline reconstruction—Susan and family go missing, police search
• 11:47 – 13:03: Police evidence photos; discovery of mystery metal in minivan
• 16:00 – 17:31: The missing impact driver; tool kit bought with Susan’s card
• 19:39 – 21:31: Recreating the melting experiment; result matches police evidence
• 22:33 – 23:11: Theorizing Josh’s motive for destroying the tool
• 23:13 – 24:32: Home video flashback; implications of Josh’s comment

Tone and Delivery

Dave Cawley’s tone is methodical and investigative, guiding listeners step-by-step through his reasoning and discoveries. Eyewitnesses and experts—especially Andrew Robinson—are earnest, observant, and candid. The episode weaves documentary-style reporting, emotional reflection, and the cold precision of criminal investigation. There are moments of chilling realization, such as during the home video flashback.

Final Notes

This episode is a standout for its deep-dive into physical evidence and for illustrating how even small artifacts—a torch, a tool bag, a melted hunk of metal—can illuminate a wider, darker story. Cawley’s experiment and analysis show how tireless investigation can bring new clarity to a cold case, linking material clues to possible motivations and actions.

If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic abuse, visit thehotline.org or call 1-800-799-SAFE for confidential support.

For photos and more on this experiment, visit TheColdPodcast.com.