Man Murdered His 96-Year-Old Grandma After “Dreaming” About It

A 27-year-old man who claimed he dreamed about killing his beloved 96-year-old grandmother before actually doing it has been sentenced to life in prison — in a case that’s left even veteran detectives shaken.

Joshua Powell looked like the perfect grandson. Every week, he visited Emma Finch, his sweet, sharp-witted grandmother in the sleepy English village of Liss, to play Scrabble and pick up her groceries. But behind the polite smiles, police say he was secretly plotting her death — and hoping to cash in on her passing.

On May 17, 2024, Finch’s quiet home became a crime scene straight out of a nightmare. When a carbon-monoxide alarm went off, firefighters rushed in to find her lifeless body on the bedroom floor — and a fire deliberately set on her bed. Investigators soon realized this was no tragic accident. The fire was a cover-up.

Powell’s story fell apart instantly. He told police he’d been asleep all night, but CCTV cameras caught his car creeping toward Finch’s house at 2 a.m. His phone was on the move too. Even worse — just weeks before, Powell had bragged to friends that he “hoped his grandma would die soon” because he stood to inherit money, and that he’d had a “nightmare” about killing her.

That so-called nightmare came true.

Forensic experts found Powell’s DNA on a belt near Finch’s body — the same belt used to strangle her — and his fingerprints on her home’s key safe, which he claimed he didn’t know how to open. The elderly woman’s cause of death was ruled neck compression — meaning she was already dead when the fire began.

When the evidence cornered him, Powell finally admitted the unthinkable: he killed the woman who trusted him most.

At Portsmouth Crown Court, the cold-blooded killer was handed life in prison with a minimum of 26 years.

Detective Howard Broadribb called Powell’s actions “callous beyond words,” adding, “He took advantage of Emma’s trust, then tried to burn away the truth.”

Family members said Finch — a mother, grandmother, and friend to many — deserved better than a death at the hands of someone she loved.

Source: People.com