Husband Says Missing Wife Was 'Extremely Unstable'

Nov. 7, 2010— -- The husband of missing Utah mother Susan Powell said in his first interview in almost a year that he believes reduced public and family scrutiny of her will lead her to return.

Josh Powell maintained that his wife left on her own, and said that he thinks her worries about what will happen when she comes back have kept her in hiding.

"She knows she will be chewed up like hamburger when she comes back," Powell, who has been accused by his wife's family of involvement in her disappearance, said in an interview with the Salt Lake Tribune.

He said he blames Susan's family for causing her to leave under pressure.

"She can't come back with them treating her this way," Josh Powell told the newspaper. "They want her to be perfect, a saint with no fallibility."

In the interview, Josh Powell also called his missing wife "extremely unstable" and said he feels her mental illness led to her disappearance.

Susan Powell went missing from the family's home in West Valley City, Utah, on Dec. 6, 2009, the same night that Josh says he packed up their two boys, who were then 2 and 4 years old, for a night of winter camping in the midst of a blizzard.

Josh Powell, who has been highly scrutinized for his alibi, spoke with the Salt Lake Tribune on Wednesday. Since his wife's disappearance he has moved his children out of state to stay with his father, Steven Powell.

Though he hasn't been charged in Susan's disappearance, Josh is the only person of interest in the case.

Accusations have also come from Josh's father, Steven Powell, who claims that Susan ran off with another man, saying that "Susan's very sexually motivated."

Steven Powell also alleges a history of mental illness in Susan's family, something he also claimed in an email to ABC News.

"Clearly we think Susan decided to leave," Steven Powell said. "Susan had an occasional tendency to lose control ... much like her mother"