Josh Powell’s father has filed paperwork stating that he will not answer any questions from law enforcement authorities about the disappearance of his daughter-in-law, Susan Cox Powell.

Steven Powell, the father-in-law of missing Utah woman Susan Powell, appears in Pierce
County courtroom, Sept. 23, 2011, in Tacoma, Wash. (Ted S. Warren/AP Photo)

Steven Powell submitted a notice to law enforcement in Pierce County Superior Court invoking his Fifth Amendment right to not answer questions posed to him by authorities about the case. The filing comes two weeks after his son, Josh, blew up himself and his two children, Charlie and Braden, in a rental home. In the wake of the deaths, police said they would ask Steven about Susan’s disappearance in 2009.

Steven had previously been outspoken about his daughter-in-law’s disappearance, making statements to the media about how Susan likely ran away from her family to be with another man.

But now he will not answer questions by any police, including the West Valley City, Utah, police department, which investigated the disappearance, and the Pierce County Sheriff’s department, which arrested Steven in September on child porn and voyeurism charges.

He was arrested following a search of the home he shared with Josh and the children in September, which was conducted as part of the investigation into Susan’s disappearance. His trial on child pornography charges is set to start March 20.