Justice for Joyce Yost | Prelude: Corpus Delicti

03/31/21 • 7 min

Josh Powell became a murder suspect when his wife Susan Powell disappeared from their home in West Valley City, Utah on December 7, 2009. Police have never located Susan's body. Prosecutors never charged Josh with a crime, in spite of a large body of circumstantial evidence. Many Cold season 1 listeners have asked "why not?" Isn't it possible to win a murder case without a body? Part of the answer might rest with the case of Joyce Yost, another Utah woman who'd disappeared nearly a quarter of a century earlier.

Joyce Yost had never met the man who followed her home on an April night in 1985, who kidnapped and raped her. He threatened to kill her, but she went to police anyway. Then, she vanished. Joyce has never been found. Now, investigative journalist Dave Cawley delves into the decades-old case to uncover the details of a murder-for-hire plot to silence Joyce. Cold reveals flaws in the system that left Joyce unprotected, examines pitfalls of the death penalty and asks if there’s such a thing as justice for Joyce Yost.

Cold season 2 is available on Amazon Music, Wondery+ in Apple Podcasts or the Wondery app. You can also ask Alexa to play the Cold podcast on your Echo device.

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Survivors of rape, sexual abuse and sexual assault and their allies in the United States can connect with free resources at https://www.rainn.org/.

Additional case materials including photos, videos and a who's who list at https://thecoldpodcast.com/season-2/.

Episode credits:

Research, writing and hosting: Dave Cawley
Audio production: Dave Cawley
Audio mixing: Dave Cawley
Cold main score composition: Michael Bahnmiller
Cold main score mixing: Dan Blanck
KSL executive producers: Sheryl Worsley, Keira Farrimond
Workhouse Media executive producers: Paul Anderson, Nick Panella, Andrew Greenwood
Amazon Music team: Morgan Jones, Eliza Mills, Vanessa Rebbert, Shea Simpson

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03/31/21 • 7 min