Grandma, 96, Relied on Her Grandson Weekly. He Had a 'Nightmare' About Killing Her, and She Was Then Found Dead By Escher Walcott

A man in England has been sentenced to life in prison for the murder of his grandmother.

Joshua Powell was arrested on suspicion of murder following the death of his 96-year-old grandmother, Emma Finch, on May 17, 2024. She was found deceased on the floor of her bedroom in the village of Liss, after a carbon monoxide alarm was triggered,” which alerted the Hampshire Fire and Rescue, the Hampshire Constabulary said in a news release.

“The fire itself had started on the bed and spent matches found at the scene were different from a match box found elsewhere in the house,” according to police.

Powell, 27, was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum of 26 years at Portsmouth Crown Court on Friday, Nov. 14, after admitting to Finch’s murder.

Powell was allegedly close to his grandmother and would visit her “every week” to do her food shopping and play the board game Scrabble, per the police news release. He initially told police he didn’t leave his address and was asleep at the time of her murder.

CCTV footage, however, showed that Powell’s vehicle left his address at around 2 a.m. local time on May 17 and remained in the Liss area. His phone, which was connected to his car, was also active at the time.

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“The notes on his phone additionally showed the code to the key safe at Emma’s address had been entered weeks earlier, despite him claiming not to know the code,” said police.

Powell was arrested on suspicion of murder on May 19, 2024. According to the police, he was in debt at the time of the incident. He allegedly told his friends that he “hoped his grandmother would pass soon as he stood to inherit” and that he had “a nightmare that he had killed his grandmother.”

Powell was charged with Finch’s murder on May 22, 2024, and remanded into custody before admitting to the charge against him on May 16, 2025.

A post-mortem examination determined that Finch’s cause of death was neck compression. No carboxyhemoglobin was found in her blood, indicating that she died before the fire.

“Forensic examinations linked Joshua to the injuries on Emma’s neck, the wheels on the key safe, and also from a belt recovered close to the scene, which also had traces of Emma’s blood,” said police. A knife matching one missing from Finch’s house was also recovered near the address.

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“Joshua’s callous actions took advantage of Emma’s trust in him. His subsequent denials when faced with mounting evidence against him showed a total disregard for Emma and her family,” said Senior Investigating Officer Howard Broadribb, per the police news release.

“I hope that this sentence gives all of Emma’s relatives the opportunity to grieve their loss in the knowledge that justice has been served,” Broadribb added.