Powell journals: 'I can hardly control myself when it comes to her' 
 
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 SEATTLE -- Steven Powell's recently unsealed personal journals offer a unique insight into his mind, but it's unclear if they will help investigators get any closer to finding out what happened to his daughter-in-law, Susan Powell. 
 
 
 
 It was a year ago that Steven Powell shocked the world by claiming he was involved in a sexually-charged relationship with Susan Powell. 
 
 
 
 "We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that. I enjoy doing that," he said in August 2011. 
 
 
 
 Susan's family denies that claim, saying she felt uneasy around her father-in-law. 
 
 
 
 Detectives say that perverse relationship came to light as they investigated Susan's disappearance from her Utah home in December 2009. Investigators came across Steven Powell's journals, which detailed his obsession with Susan. 
 
 
 
 In one of the 2,300 pages spanning 17 spiral notebooks, Steven Powell wrote, "The fact is, I can hardly control myself when it comes to her." 
 
 
 
 He also detailed how he liked to photograph Susan when she wasn't watching. The journals include dozens of photos of Susan, and while some were innocent, many others zeroed in on her legs and feet. Powell also wrote about using a mirror under the bathroom door to spy on Susan. 
 
 
 
 Later, he admits to feeling guilty about the action, saying it " ... represents the first time I've mentioned fetishes and what might be considered sociopathic. I mean, who looks under the bathroom door with a mirror?" 
 
 
 
 The journal entries and photos stopped just before Susan disappeared, and there's no mention of what happened to her. 
 
 
 
 "There's nothing in the diary that's going to lead anybody anywhere to find Susan's body," said Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer. "It's just disturbing reading." 
 
 
 
 Despite the lack of information in the journals, Susan's family believes Steven Powell knows what happened. But if he does know what happened to his daughter-in-law, he's not telling. He's said nothing to police or anyone else since his arrest and conviction for voyeurism of two neighbor girls. 
 
 
 
 Steven Powell is currently serving a prison sentence in state prison in Shelton, but he could be released as soon as next May. ||||| Rick Egan/Pool Steven Powell during his trial. 
 
 The personal journals of prisoner Steven Powell offer a disturbing portrait of a man who was obsessed with his daughter-in-law years before she went missing in 2009 — a case that’s taken one tragic turn after another. 
 
 Police have released 17 spiral-bound notebooks that belonged to Powell, who was sentenced in June to two and a half years in a Washington state prison for acts of voyeurism against young girls. 
 
 The 62-year-old wasn’t considered the main suspect in the disappearance of his daughter-in-law, Susan Powell, from her home in West Valley City, Utah. 
 
 His journals, however, detailed his desire for her right up until she went missing. 
 
 Family Handout/KOMONews.com 
 
 “The fact is, I can hardly control myself when it comes to her,” he wrote in one entry, according to ABC affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle. 
 
 Other entries also highlighted an intense preoccupation, according to ABC News. 
 
 “What has driven me in the past year is primarily lust. I have never lusted for a woman as I have for Susan. I take chances sometimes to take video clips of her, which I watch regularly,” he wrote. 
 
 He once described how he slipped a mirror under the bathroom door when she was in there and would masturbate with her underwear he nabbed from the laundry. 
 
 The 2,300 pages of notes also included photos of Susan, some of which focused on her feet and legs, ABC News said. 
 
 Powell recognized that he “might be considered sociopathic. I mean, who looks under the bathroom door with a mirror?” 
 
 But the journals fail to give insight into what might have happened to Susan, who was 28 when she vanished. 
 
 “There’s nothing in the diary that’s going to lead anybody anywhere to find Susan’s body,” Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman Ed Troyer told KOMO. “It’s just disturbing reading.” 
 
 The police’s prime suspect was her husband, Josh Powell, who had been uncooperative during the investigation, authorities said. 
 
 Earlier this year, Josh Powell was involved in a custody dispute over his two sons, who were taken away when police found child pornography in Steven Powell’s home, where they all lived together. 
 
 In February, Josh Powell killed his children and himself in a house fire. 
 
 His father has refused to comment about Susan’s disappearance since his arrest last September. A month before, Steven Powell publicly claimed he had a sexually charged relationship with her, according to KOMO. 
 
 eortiz@nydailynews.com ||||| The personal diaries of Steven Powell show a man obsessed with his daughter-in-law, fantasizing about and spying on Susan Cox Powell for more than a year before her disappearance. 
 
 Police released thousands of pages of police reports and diary entries that were collected during the years since Susan Powell's 2009 disappearance, in which her husband, Josh Powell, was the only named person of interest. Josh Powell denied involvement in her death. He killed their two children and himself in a fiery house explosion in February of this year. 
 
 Steven Powell, Josh's father, was found guilty on charges of voyeurism in May of this year for photographs and videos he took of young girls changing and bathing in their bathroom. He is serving a prison sentence in Washington state prison. 
 
 The documents released Tuesday include numerous journal entries referencing Steven Powell's desire and love for his daughter-in-law. 
 
 "What has driven me in the past year is primarily lust. I have never lusted for a woman as I have for Susan," he wrote. "I take chances sometimes to take video clips of her, which I watch regularly." 
 
 "How I would love to kiss those lips," he wrote later. 
 
 Powell wrote about going through his daughter-in-law's laundry and masturbating with her underwear, as well as to pictures of her and, he claimed, in her presence twice. 
 
 He also admitted to using a mirror he slipped under the bathroom door to spy on Susan while she went to the bathroom. 
 
 "The fact is, I can hardly control myself when it comes to her," he wrote, noting later that his feelings "might be considered sociopathic. I mean, who looks under the bathroom door with a mirror?" 
 
 Steven Powell previously told ABC News that he and Susan had interacted in sexual ways. 
 
 "We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that. I enjoy doing that," he said in August 2011. 
 
 The diaries offer a clear picture of Steven Powell's feelings for his daughter-in-law, but few clues about her disappearance. 
 
 According to Josh Powell, Susan disappeared one night in December 2009 when Josh had taken their two sons on a late-night camping trip in the Utah desert. 
 
 "There's nothing in the diary that's going to lead anybody anywhere to find Susan's body," Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told ABC News affiliate KOMO. "It's just disturbing reading."
– The diaries of Susan Powell's imprisoned father-in-law have emerged, and they tell a story of "lust" for the missing woman. "The fact is, I can hardly control myself when it comes to her," Steven Powell wrote in an entry obtained by KOMO-TV. From ABC News: "I have never lusted for a woman as I have for Susan. I take chances sometimes to take video clips of her, which I watch regularly." The elder Powell also described masturbating with Susan's underwear and sliding a mirror under the bathroom door to watch his daughter-in-law, a habit he recognized as possibly "sociopathic." The 2,300 pages contain no clues to Susan's whereabouts, according to the New York Daily News. The 62-year-old Powell is in a Washington state prison for voyeurism and was named a person of interest in Susan's disappearance; pictures of Susan were previously found in his home.