Dad Realizes His Daughter Is Actually The Killer

What is she? She's in the ground. So. there is. Who is it? My mom. This man has just been told that his. wife has been murdered. However, he. never could have expected that it was. his daughter that was responsible. What happened? Your wife and daughter got into an. argument. He's in jail forever. Wife's dead. I was too. On March 3rd, 2020, Ohio. police responded to a 911 call at an. address in Akran and found Brenda Powell. on the floor of her kitchen with 30 stab.

wounds in her neck. Her daughter Sydney. was in the house at the time and told. police this was a home invasion turned. brutal murder. But even though Sydney. was injured as well, there were still. questions left unanswered. Things. weren't adding up for the cops. Brenda. was on the phone with one of Sydney's. college professors at the time she was. attacked. And during that call, she. suddenly started screaming before the. phone went dead. When he called back, the voice on the other end of the phone. claimed to be Brenda. But the college. professor knew this was a lie and.

suspected Sydney was pretending to be. her mother. Fearing the worst, he called. 911 and the first responders arrived in. no time. This scream combined with being called. to the location is enough probable cause. for the police to forcefully enter the. home. And this is what was waiting for.

him when he walked inside the house. Echer police. and she's on the ground. Where's your mom at? Okay. No. No. There. THERE'S SO MUCH BLOOD. NO. WAY. [laughter]. MAN, [screaming] NOW. STOP. [laughter] STOP.

We got to figure out what's going on. Car 9, get that 32 rolling here quick. We got a female down. Blood all over the. place. Started some more years. We got a. crime scene. Take her outside. She's got blood all over. Secure the scene. She looks like a 22. She looks like she's been down for a. while. There's blood all over the place. There's a knife by her head and stuff. like that. And there's a huge pool of. blood. No, I think she just walked in on it. There's a broken window in the back. So,

if you can just put up some crime scene. tape. Soon as AFD gets here, they're. going to pronounce her. I'm sure. It turns out Brenda hasn't just been. stabbed. She's also been hit over the. head with an iron skillet, and her. injuries are so devastating that her. life hangs in the balance. Stop. Stop. Hold on. We got to figure out what's. going on. Come on. Is she going to be okay? Come on. Come on. Come on. You just need to cooperate with me. All.

right. I love my dad. Huh? I love my dad. WHAT HAPPENED? WHAT'S GOING ON? WHAT'S going on? We heard a bang. We heard a bang and she told me to get. out and then I heard screaming. So I. came back and she was on the ground. Okay. You heard a bang. Back. There was a big broken. What is your name? Sydney.

Are you cut? I don't think so. Yeah, you're cut. somewhere. I don't think so. Yeah, your hand. No, I was helping her. I grabbed her. All right, stop. I grabbed the knife before the street. Yeah. What's going on? I don't know. We just got the dad. I don't know. I don't know. Cydney appears to have been injured as. well. Is suffering from shock and. struggling to hold herself together. Even the arrival of her father, Steve.

Powell, doesn't calm Sydney down. Police. need to lock down the crime scene and. try to figure out exactly what's. happened. The back WINDOW [crying] IS BROKEN IN. SO, YOU'RE GOING TO HAVE TO. INSIDE THERE. SO, I DON'T [screaming and crying] KNOW. SHE. WAS THERE WITH THE HOUSE. OKAY. She's got minor crunch. Inside the house, there's a broken. window and the knife used to stab. Brenda. But something isn't quite right. as the broken window had blood dripped.

on the outside of it, leading police to. conclude it could have only been broken. after Brenda had been stabbed. However, Sydney claimed that the intruder used. the window to enter and was broken. before the attack, leading to the first. of many inaccuracies in her story. Interesting. Somewhere that's not okay. Do we know. who? Where? Which way? That is the. younger guy. I'm looking through here. and I can see pictures and there's a. whole basement set up for. Yep. Hey, sorry. I'll call you I'll call. you right back.

Bye. All right, let me go report that. Well, I'll see if we can find out who. who else lives here. With such a serious case with so many. unanswered questions, the cops spend. some time talking with homeowners. nearby. They have to try and collect as. much information as possible. But right. now, the only person making any sense is. Sydney's father. Okay. Do you live here, sir? Yeah. Okay. That's my wife and there's my daughter. I I.

How old is your daughter? She'll be 20 in March. She's 19. Is she coming out? Not No, not yet. So, just can't. Sydney, can you tell me what happened? Huh? Sydney. Sydney. on his way. Yeah, it's coming from where? Yeah, that's him right there. I can hear.

him. What's up? I have a female. While trying to piece this puzzle. together, police speak to Steve Powell. and one of Sydney's friends down at the. station in the hopes that they may be. able to help them shed some light on. exactly what happened. But unfortunately. for Steve, he has absolutely no idea.

Sydney is the attacker, or even worse, that his wife is in critical condition. at the hospital and likely won't. survive. Something detectives will have. to break to him sooner than later. Where'd you get a call from? Yeah. Call from call from me. Oh, okay. He said there was a call went out, a. distress call from the University of. Mountain Union where my daughter was. going and said, "Uh, female in. distress." I said, "Well, that's funny. cuz Brenda's there, my wife." So, I. called Brenda and it rings and rings on.

her cell phone. No answer. I call Sydney. back. Rings and rings and rings. No. answer. I call Brenda back. Ring ring. ring. No answer. I'm pacing around. I. call. Jeep back and I'm on the phone with him. telling him there's no answer. My doctor. calls me back. I said, "Oh, mom's on the. phone with me with uh mom union." I. said, "Well, cops are on the way." And. she went, "There's going to breakin and. there's" and she just started going off. She said, "What?" She said that was. there's been somebody broke into the.

house. There's blood everywhere. She was. hysterical and crying. So, at first when. you talked to her, she said, "Your wife. is on the phone about you." Yes. And as. soon as I said cops are on the way, the. hysteric started. Is she still a teddy? Well, as far as we knew up until today, yes, but apparently not for the last, I. don't know, maybe couple weeks. What Sydney hadn't told her parents was. that she'd been kicked out of college.

weeks before this happened and had been. lying to them ever since. But she did. tell her friends, including Lauren, who. lived in the same dorm. Now, we. understand that that Sydney was your. roommate at Mount Union. Yes, she was for last year and then this. year until she left. And so, you've been friends ever since. your s freshman year at CB. Mhm. Go over each other's houses, everything, everything like that. Yep. Well, she started off in exercise. science freshman year, her first. semester, but then she didn't like the.

classes, so she switched over to. psychology and sociology, but then she. didn't really like that. So this year. she switched to education and then she. didn't like that either and that's one. of the reasons she left is cuz she. really couldn't find what she liked. I. think she struggled in her classes. I. don't think her grades were the best but. she didn't really tell me that cuz um I. wasn't really struggling. I think she. kept a lot of stuff hidden because when. we were just talking with our friends,

she always seemed happy. Like she seemed. okay. Like I said, I couldn't tell until. the end where she was kind of just like. struggling and she kind of was sad and. just like bored, I don't know what to. do. I think she felt like everybody. around her kind of had figured out what. they wanted to do and she had it. Establishing Sydney's state of mind. leading up to the incident will help. detectives find out if she simply. snapped or if this was premeditated. The. issue is Sydney is going to claim that. she actually has no idea what happened. throughout this entire case. In fact,

she's going to base her entire defense. on the fact that she blacked out and. even claim insanity using this. This. means the cops still have no solid proof. that Sydney is the guilty party, but. they're starting to discover she was. hiding secrets from just about everyone. Well, I know she's had anxiety for a. while, but I don't think I think it was. last like this last semester like. starting coming back in January is when. it really started that she was kind of. more like upset because she really. didn't know what she wanted to do. My.

friends and I were worried for her. because we were just we didn't know what. was going on. She didn't tell us. And. Lauren knew something was wrong and. tried to help. At first, she had no. reason to doubt her and was as. supportive as any friend could have been. at a time like this. But even Lauren. grew suspicious of Sydney's evasive. behavior. I could tell she was getting more upset, like more sad. And I told her, I was. like, "I'm here. Like, you can tell me. I'm here for you. If you need anything, I'm here." But she never really opened.

up until she was leaving and saying that. she was struggling with school and that. she wanted she was kind of trying to. figure out what was going on. And that's. when I started to try to help her. Let's talk about this. Um, you know, you're her best friend and I know this. is difficult, but to tell us about her. relationship with her parents. Her and her parents had really good. relationship. Like her mom and her were. best friends probably. Like they did. everything together. Like one of the. reasons she went home was to be with her. mom. They were always close. She never.

said anything bad about her mom. She. never ever talked about having an. argument with her mom. Like I can't. recall every time she'd be going home, she's like, "I can't wait to see my. mom." Or when she goes home for. weekends, she'd be like, "Oh, my mom. wants me to come home so we can hang out. and like watch movies." And she loved. like she loved being home. By this. point, Sydney is becoming wrapped up in. a lie that she's going to struggle to. escape from. But instead of owning up, she decided to make out as if college.

just wasn't working out for her. And. tried to convince her parents that they. could save a lot of money on college. bills if she left to pursue other. things. What's going on? Are you not going to. school? She goes, I'm overwhelmed in. school and I don't really like what I'm. doing and it seems like it's a waste of. my time and your money. I said, well, but that's all part of it. Nobody's. going to tell you you need to do what. you're doing when you're 20. you need to. figure it out. But that's not what she told her. friends. So, when she's talking to you about um. you know, the problem she's having at. school, uh did she mentioned that she.

tried talking to her parents? Yeah, I know. She definitely, especially. when she left, she talked to her mom. about leaving. They kind of made that. decision together to leave Mount. Lauren's suspicions were proved to be. right. And Sydney was lying to her. friends. But at the same time, she was. also lying to her parents who knew. nothing of her problems at college until. they received a phone call from Sydney's. professor. So Steve and Brenda began. crisis talks to find out exactly what. was going on with their daughter.

So I went back. I called my wife and. found my daughter's phone. She picks up. She was working down Children's and she. goes, "What's wrong?" And I basically. told her, I said, "You know, I mean, Sydney, I I think the reason we can't. get on is because she's unenrolled. She. hasn't been going to school." Sydney. became wrapped up in two sets of lies. The story she told her friends and the. story she told her parents. Failing. grades aren't the end of the world, and. any parent would support their child. through such difficult times. But it. seems she thought her parents would be. mad and couldn't bring herself to tell. them she'd been asked to leave the.

college. Yeah, we asked what she was doing and. she said she was good. Like she acted. like what we would see as normal. Like. she was laughing, she was having fun. She said she got jobs cuz she worked at. the Akan Rubber Ducks. She's worked. there for a couple seasons. So, she was. going to go back there. And then she. also said she was looking for another. job and like everything was good and she. was trying to figure out like next year. and all this stuff and she was going to. talk to her parents about housing, trying to come back to Mount. once she got to my union or anytime. Ashley, did uh did Sydney ever drink.

alcohol at all or she did? Okay. Just kind of describe that for us. She liked to drink. Um, there was an. incident in the fall of our freshman. year where she drank too much and she. wasn't alcohol buzzing, but she did end. up in the hospital. Her mom came and got. her at like 2:00 in the morning. Usually. after that, her and I were together and. she did drink. I usually kind of like. slow her down after her limit cuz she's. small. Detectives suspect Cydney snapped.

when Brenda was on the phone to her. college professor and tried to cover up. her lies by silencing her mother. forever. The issue is again Sydney is. claiming that she doesn't remember a. thing, but it seems that she made some. crucial and careless mistakes, then let. the detectives pick up the pieces. Sydney grabbed an iron skillet and beat. her mother into submission before. plunging a steak knife into her neck. over 30 times. She then impersonated her. mother on the phone and staged a breakin. to try and cover her tracks. We were going house at all.

I made it in far enough to see the back. fit. There's when you go into the front. door, you come around the kitchen, you. go in, you can see the uh there's like a. pass through between the kitchen and the. family room, the back of the house. I. could see the right hand there's two big. sliding windows. I could see that window. was clearly it looked like it was. busted. Went down the hallway probably. about two feet. just don't see blood all. the way down the hallway. Sadly, Brenda didn't survive her ordeal. and passed away in hospital. The county. medical examiner came to the conclusion.

that Brenda had died from blunt force. trauma to her head and stab wounds to. her neck. They ruled her death a. homicide. This left detectives to. deliver the tragic news to Steve that. his wife was dead. Well, really bad news. Your wife passed away. Detectives investigated Sydney's [music]. claims that an intruder was responsible,

but their findings didn't seem to match. her story, and the evidence was painting. a [music] different picture altogether. This left detectives with one final. devastating task to carry out, telling. Steve that his own daughter killed his. wife. What happened? I don't think someone. broke into the house. I don't know if. your wife and daughter got into an. argument, got physical. I mean, the. window was broken, but there's no forced. entry into the house. Did your wife and.

daughter like really eat? No arguments. No. This is not possible. Your [snorts] son's outside, but he. doesn't. My son's here? Yes. Would you like one of us to just go be. with your son? I I don't know. and take your time. There's no rush for me. It's simply impossible to imagine the. turmoil Steve [music] must be going. through at this moment. His wife. murdered and his daughter the main. suspect. Finally, Steve realizes the.

detectives might be right, leaving him. to deliver the news to his son. Clearly, they think Sydney did this. I was, too. He's here forever. Your wife's dead. You know, they're going to do everything. they can to make sure they find out. exactly what happened. Nothing's. definite as of yet. They still have to. do their investigating. Where's Andrew? You just sit out there.

by himself or is he with you? Well, yeah. I don't want anybody. I just want me and. him. That's legal. I don't care. Yeah. You don't want any of that? I don't want any of you. No, I just want. I just want you injured. You just become a headache when you're. ready. Okay. They don't know. They haven't told me.

They're investigating. Sydney was arrested and charged for the. murder of Brenda Powell. She claimed. insanity at first, saying she had almost. no memory of what happened, including. hitting Brenda with the cast iron. skillet and fatally stabbing her. The. jury didn't believe Sydney, and she was. found guilty on two counts of murder, one count of felonious assault, and one. count of tampering with evidence. Cydney. Powell was sentenced to life in prison. with a chance of parole after 15 years.