The Powell Involvement/Michael Powell, the younger brother of Josh Powell, jumped to his death.

I am heartbroken... I hope those boys didn't suffer in any way. Josh has shown the world what a monster he really was...There's no doubt about it now.

First published 5 hours ago
Updated 2 minutes ago

Calling it a "double murder/suicide," Washington state authorities said late Sunday that Josh Powell had killed his two sons and himself at his Graham home in a "very well-planned fire" that was fueled by accelerants.

"Everything that happened was intentional," said Ed Troyer of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office.

The fire broke out about 12:30 p.m., Washington time, just moments after a contract social worker with Child Protective Services brought the two boys to the home for a supervised visit.

The boys went into the home, and Josh Powell locked out the social worker, who pounded on door and window, then tried to call Josh Powell’s cell phone, Troyer said.

He said the house "lit up" about three minutes after social worker was locked out, and burned with a ferocity that prompted witnesses to believe the home had exploded.

The social worker — who was not physically injured — called 911, then went to a neighbor’s home, Troyer said.

The three bodies were in the same room in the middle of the home, Troyer said. All the bodies had been removed by 5:55 p.m. Washington time.

Troyer said the next step would be an autopsy to see if the boys were harmed in any way by their father prior to the outbreak of the fire.

"What happened here was a deeply wrong thing. It was an act of evil. It wasn’t a tragedy," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor said, as reported by the Tacoma News Tribune.

The social worker was reported as physically unharmed, but "very shook up," according to Sherry Hill, spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.

Troyer said an email Powell sent to his attorney seemed to confirm that Powell had planned the fire.

Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Josh Powell in the custody case, said he received a three-word email from his client just minutes before Powell and his two boys died in a house fire. It said, "I’m sorry, goodbye."

The email arrived at 12:05 p.m. Sunday, Washington time, about 10 minutes before the fire broke out, but he didn’t see it two hours later, when others told him Josh and the boys had been killed.

Bassett said he knew Josh was upset after a judge last week ordered that Powell’s sons, Charlie, 7 and Braden, 5, remain in the custody of their grandparents, Chuck and Judy Cox. The judge also ordered Josh to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.

Josh Powell also was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife Susan Powell from their West Valley City home in December 2009.

Kirk Graves, Josh’s brother in law, and the husband of Jennifer Graves — both of whom had been estranged from Josh and believe he killed Susan Powell — said they had been pleased the boys would be able to stay with Coxes.

"Josh didn’t feel the same way, I guess," Graves said.

Graves added that he views the fire as proof that Josh killed his wife.

"In my personal opinion, this is Josh’s admission that he did it," Graves said. "I know others won’t interpret it that way, but I know that is what this was."

Graves said they got confirmation of the fatal fire from Chuck Cox, who went to Josh’s home and observed it on fire.

"We’re still in shock," Graves said. "We’re almost shaky."

They visited their nephews over Thanksgiving in Washington, and had spoken to them on the phone since.

Graves said of Josh’s mother, Terrica Powell, "She’s not doing well."

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It's hard to wrap your head around it. No one really saw this coming, but in retrospect, I am not surprised. Josh would rather kill his own children than rot in prison. What a selfish, sick SOB!!

And, his poor mother. OMG!! Cannot begin to fathom any of this! Did he even Warn the boys he was going to kill them?

IMHO, this was planned! He knew what he was going to do!!

Anger does not begin to describe the emotions I know we are all feeling!!

Could Wash. Have Done More to Protect Powell Boys?

By GENE JOHNSON Associated Press
SEATTLE February 6, 2012 (AP)

State authorities can expect tough questions about whether more might have been done to protect the two children of a missing Utah woman who were killed along with their father in what appears to have been a deliberate house explosion Sunday.

Josh Powell was a person of interest in his wife's disappearance — why was he allowed to meet with his sons at all? Why weren't more precautions taken?

The answers rest in part in that no concrete evidence has emerged publicly linking Josh Powell to Susan Powell's disappearance. Josh Powell had custody of the boys for nearly two years afterward. And it was only because his father — with whom he and the boys lived — was arrested in a voyeurism case last fall that the children were taken out of the home and placed with Susan's parents.

A Department of Social and Health Services spokeswoman says officials would have acted if they thought there was any chance Josh Powell might have harmed the children.

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House full of people downstairs but I had to come up here and check on our site dear friends - I join you in grief at this horrible news. I cannot believe that such evil can exist - he didnt want to let those children live to punish everyone else - the no good evil bastard. Ive thought of nothing else all night.

I was afraid of something like this happening in the beginning, because I thought Josh acted strangely, and that he had social issues. I kind of got past that until he spoke last summer, when he seemed quite angry about the whole situation. Again, I let the feeling go, hoping for the best.

When I heard this today though, I said out loud, "I knew something like this would happen, I knew it."

I don't know if this is an admission of his guilt over killing Susan or of other knowledge of what happened, because I can't rule out his father. I hope that lying deviant piece of shiiit comes clean with whatever he knows and then I hope he does himself in because who knows what will happen to him in the court system... He might get a jury like the one in Pinellas County, or have his sentence pardoned and expunged by a judge or governor.

"Why are children always first to feel the pain and hurt the worst? It's true and somehow, it just don't seem right."

artgal16 wrote:House full of people downstairs but I had to come up here and check on our site dear friends - I join you in grief at this horrible news. I cannot believe that such evil can exist - he didnt want to let those children live to punish everyone else - the no good evil bastard. Ive thought of nothing else all night.

GRAHAM, Wash. (AP) — Josh Powell's note was simple and short, a farewell to the world after two years of being scrutinized in the media, hammered by police and questioned by judges, prosecutors and social workers, living his life under a microscope since the day his wife vanished.

"I'm sorry, goodbye," Powell wrote in an email to his attorney just minutes before authorities say he blew up his home, killing himself and his two young sons days after he was denied custody and ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.

The explosion Sunday brought yet another twist in the very public disintegration of a family that began when Susan Powell vanished in 2009. The case had since spiraled into a salacious saga of finger-pointing and accusations of sex and lies — and now the unthinkable loss of two young lives caught in the crossfire.

A social worker brought the two boys to Josh Powell's home Sunday for what was to be a supervised visit, and Powell let his sons inside — but then blocked the social worker from entering, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz told The Associated Press.

The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas. Moments later, the home exploded.
Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer said it appeared some sort of accelerant was used to make the house burn faster.

He said emails Powell sent to authorities just prior to the explosion seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast. Troyer didn't elaborate on the content of the emails.

Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Powell in the custody case, said he received an ominous email from his client just minutes before the blast.

"I'm sorry, goodbye," it read.

Susan Powell, a pretty 28-year-old mother of two, was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009, after she failed to show up for her stockbroker job in Utah.

Authorities in the couple's hometown of West Valley City, about 10 miles outside Salt Lake City, quickly turned their attention to Josh Powell. He's been the only "person of interest" in the case, but had repeatedly denied any involvement in her disappearance.

"I would never even hurt her," a tearful, red-eyed Josh Powell told CBS' Early Show in August. "People who know me know that I could never hurt Susan."

About a month later, police spent 12 days in the remote central Utah desert looking for clues, and Josh Powell and his father, Steven, quickly disappeared from the limelight. The search area around Topaz Mountain, a popular spot for rock and gem hunters, was about 30 miles south of where Josh told police he went camping with his two children in the hours before his wife's disappearance — his steadfast alibi.

On Sunday, the lawyer for Susan Powell's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, told the AP the children had started talking to their grandparents about things they remembered from the night their mother vanished.
"They were beginning to verbalize more," said attorney Steve Downing, whose clients had custody of the children. "The oldest boy talked about that they went camping and that Mommy was in the trunk. Mom and Dad got out of the car and Mom disappeared."

Police turned up no clues in their desert search, but a day before ending it, Steven Powell, 61, was arrested at his Washington state home and accused of secretly videotaping his daughter-in-law, other women, and young girls taking baths and sitting on the toilet in neighborhood homes.

The elder Powell is now jailed and facing child porn and voyeurism charges. He claimed in previous television interviews that he and Susan Powell were falling in love and even implied a sexual relationship had occurred.
"Susan was very sexual with me," Steven Powell said in one interview at the time. "We interacted in a lot of sexual ways because Susan enjoys doing that."

Susan's father denied the allegations and said Steven Powell had been initiating unwanted sexual advances, and that his daughter had no interest in her father-in-law.

The children, 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles, were ordered by a judge to then go live with Susan's parents as the parallel cases were investigated.

The custody matter got so heated that at one point a court commissioner in Washington state ordered Chuck Cox and Josh Powell to keep 500 feet apart.

Custody hearings continued, with the latest on Wednesday, during which Josh Powell pleaded with a judge to return his children to him.

"For over four months already, my interactions with my sons and many other aspects of my character have been investigated and documented by" social services, he wrote in an affidavit to the court. "I have proven myself as a fit and loving father who provides a stable home even in the face of great adversity. ... It is time for my sons to come home."

But the judge ruled against him, ordering the children to remain with Susan Powell's parents, at least until Josh Powell underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation in light of the explicit material found on computers inside Steven Powell's home that led to his arrest.

Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, said the social worker who was with the children Sunday was not a Child Protective Services employee but a contract worker with a private agency that supervises visits for the state.
"The visit supervisor for this particular agency had taken the children to the home. When she does that, she sits through the visit and might take notes on her observations," Hill said. "She pulled up in the car, and the kids ran out ahead of her. He closed the door and locked it. She wasn't able to get in, and that's when she smelled gas."

Downing called it "the most horrifying thing you can imagine happening ...The Coxes are absolutely devastated. They were always very fearful of him doing something like this, and he did it."

Bassett said he represented Powell free of charge because "every parent deserves the right to an attorney." Powell called or emailed him at least once a day, and often more than that, and in their conversations "he never once admitted doing anything regarding Susan. In fact, he denied it."

Sgt. Mike Powell of the West Valley City Police Department in Utah said it was too soon to say how Josh Powell's death may impact their probe.

"Quite frankly, this has obviously quickly unfolded up in Washington and we're obviously just working through the details ourselves here," said Powell, who is not related to the family.

Kirk Graves, 39, of West Jordan, Utah, whose wife is Josh Powell's brother-in-law, said they were stunned by the news.

"We never contemplated the idea he would do something like this. You just don't expect it from a father," he said. "His world was falling apart around him and he was going to lose his boys and get arrested for Susan's disappearance. He's a narcissist and he has no love for anyone but himself."


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As I stated over on my FB page which some aren't on... I am in complete shock and my heart is weighing heavy on this. I am with wrap that obviously we are in shock that he would do this, but at the same time does not surprise me and I have always thought he should not be allowed to see those boys, but at the least, his supervised visits should have been at the Cox's home or at another venue!! I know he would have figured out another way to make sure his devilish deed was done, but it would have only been much harder for him.

OMG, I am sooooooo upset over this, my poor kids over heard me talking to the Man about it and my precious son Tyler said to me... "Mom that dad was so mean and those boys are in heaven now with their mommy. I bet there dad is down there now huh?" meaning in HELL.. My kids know how much I love them and how much I can not stand for these parents killing their kids... There is NOOOOOOO excuse for taking a childs life... that SOB named Josh Powells should of done the world a favor and blew himself up with out his precious boys

Sunday, February 5, 2012

Josh Powell Kills Himself and 2 Boys
by Eyes at 9:03 PM

Josh Powell's wife, Susan, went missing in December of 2009. He told the media that he went camping in the middle of the night in sub-freezing temperatuers with the couple's two toddler children at midnight, and when he came back, he found his wife was gone. She had vanished.

Nothing about Josh's story made sense, and as time went on, we could see Josh's behavior was odd and questionable. Furthermore, we learned that Josh came from a troubled family. His father was flat out bizarre.

Over a year after Susan's disappearance, Josh's father, Steven Powell, came out speaking of a bizarre obsession with his missing daughter-in-law that was flat out delusional. And that not longer after, he was investigated by police and was was arrested on charges of voyeurism and possessing images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. I believe he is currently awaiting trial.

Then earlier this week, Josh was denied custody of his two boys, though the court agreed to revisit his parental status in July.

But what happened today is horrifying. When I saw a link to the story and I clicked on it, I couldn't believe it was true. A tragic nightmare has turned even more nightmarish, if that is possible. Now, not only is a woman missing and presumed dead, but now her husband, Josh Powell, took his life and the life of their two beautiful children.

Josh Powell was clearly unable to cope with the hell he had made of his life.

His two boys were dropped off by a case worker this afternoon who was there to supervise the visits. The case worker described Josh opening the door, forcefully grabbing the boys and closing the door -- not allowing the case worker into the house.

In the news reports I have read so far, it appears the case worker smelled gas and was very concerned. The case worker immediately called her supervisor and within minutes the house was blazing. The fire was started around 12:15 and was still burning strong by 4 p.m.

It is reported that Josh sent an email to his attorney saying, "I'm sorry, goodbye."

Josh Powell committed murder today. He murdered his two children, and I don't think there are any believers today that Josh hasn't done this before. I think few will doubt that Josh Powell killed his wife Susan, too.

It's sad that such sick people can live and exist among us and are capable of such great harm to such beautiful and innocent children.

I feel horrible for the Cox family. My heart goes out to them and anyone who was blessed to have known those two beautiful boys. They did not deserve the hell that their lives became at the hands of a very controlling and manipulative father, and grandfather.

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Puyallup - An explosion in Washington state today killed a man and his two young sons. The blast is believed to have been intentionally set by the boys' father, Josh Powell.

Powell's children had been brought to the Puyallup, Wash. home by a foster-care caseworker for supervised visitation. When the worker arrived to the house, Powell "dragged" his boys inside, but refused the caseworker entry. She then called her supervisor.

The caseworker smelled a gas-like odor and, according to media reports, called 911, however as she was making the calls, the house exploded. Within three minutes firefighters arrived, but the house was fully engulfed by fire.

According to CNN, Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County Sheriff's Department spokesman, said the fire was intentionally set by the father. "This was all on him," Troyer said of Powell and the blast. "He set this up, he did it."

Troyer called the deaths "a double murder-suicide," reported the Seattle Times.

The boys, Charlie and Braden, were 7 and 5 years old.
The blast occurred around 12:15 p.m. local time (PST), and at 4 p.m., the blaze was still "burning hot," Troyer said. Three victims were found and authorities do not believe anyone else was in the house during the time of the explosion.

"All the walls in the house were on fire, almost immediately," neighbor Ryan Mickle told CNN affiliate KIRO, adding that the blast "shook my whole house."I didn't hear anybody inside. It was quite a scene."

Josh Powell's wife and the boys' mother, Susan Cox Powell, went missing in Dec. 2009 when the family lived in West Valley City, Utah. Powell was a person of interest in her disappearance, as reported by Digital Journal in 2009. The vanishing of Susan Powell has never been solved.

The boys have been in foster care and last week Powell's motion to get custody of his sons was denied by a Washington court. Powell has been involved in an "ongoing" custody battle with Susan Powell's parents, reported CNN.

Powell had lost custody of his sons after his father, Steven Powell, who resided with the family, was arrested in Sept. 2011. The senior Powell was charged with one count of possession of depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct in the second degree and 14 counts of voyeurism.

The boys have been in the custody of Chuck and Judy Cox since the elder Powell was arrested.

Reportedly, Joshua Powell sent an email to his attorney, Jeffrey Bassett, shortly before the explosion; the 12:05 p.m. email said, "I am sorry, goodbye." Police have confirmed the existence of the email, but have not verified the sender, however, have no reason not to believe the communication came from Joshua Powell.
Seattle Times reported Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told reporters near the house, "What happened here was a deeply wrong thing. It was an act of evil. Do not call it a tragedy because that sanitizes it. This was a terrible act of murder involving two young children."

According to King 5 News, an attorney for the Cox family released a statement stating the Cox family is "devastated by this horrific event. The family is grieving and there are no words to adequately express the loss of their beloved grandsons, Charlie and Braden. The family is grateful for the prayers and thoughts of so many."

Investigators are examining the home tonight to determine the exact cause of the blast. West Valley, Utah officials will be coming up to Washington. It is unclear at this time whether or not Utah authorities had new evidence of Powell's involvement with his wife's disappearance and may have been preparing to file criminal charges.

Seattle Times reported, Sgt. Mike Powell (no relation to Joshua or Susan Powell), a spokesman for the West Valley City Police Dept., wouldn't comment whether charges were to be filed.

Who the hell would they file charges on??? Josh? GMAB!!

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February 5, 2012 | 7:36 pm

Police say the fire that engulfed Josh Powell's home in Washington state Sunday, apparently killing him and his two young sons, was deliberately set -- and as far as they're concerned, that concludes the long-running investigation into the disappearance of Powell's wife, Susan.

"This is not a tragedy. This is a double homicide," Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer told The Los Angeles Times.

Josh Powell had been a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, then a 28-year-old stockbroker who vanished from their former home in Utah in December 2009. He had denied any involvement, brushing off questions about why he took the boys camping in the middle of the night during a snowstorm on the night his wife vanished.

"This is a guy who murdered his two kids, and probably murdered his wife. I don't know what Utah police think, but as far as we're concerned, this is pretty close to a confession to the crime," Troyer said.

Powell had been seeking the return of the couple's two boys, 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles, who had been living, on court orders, with Susan Powell's parents since September.

A social worker was delivering them to Josh Powell's home near Fredrickson, Wash., for what was to have been a supervised afternoon visit. Police said Powell let the boys in but then barricaded the door against the social worker. The social worker immediately called a supervisor, saying she smelled gas, and at that point the home exploded into a hot, fast-burning fire.

"What probably happened was he used accelerant throughout the residence," Troyer said. "The whole thing went up really, really fast in large flames, and burned really hot and really quick."

Though neighbors reported the sound of an explosion, Troyer said that was likely the sound of windows popping and breaking in the blistering heat. The bodies of Powell and the two children, believed to be his sons, were found in the same room, Troyer said.

"There's no doubt about what happened here," he said.

Powell's lawyer, Jeffrey Bassett, told the Associated Press he had received an email from his client several minutes before the explosion but didn't read it until later. It said: "I'm sorry, goodbye."

Authorities removed the boys from Powell's custody after his father, with whom he and his sons had been living after Susan Powell's disappearance, was arrested on charges of child pornography and voyeurism. In court papers filed in December, Powell accused his wife's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, of conducting an "irrational vendetta" that was turning his boys against him.

Powell rented a home of his own several blocks from his father's residence, but last week lost a bid to have the boys returned to his custody. A Washington state judge said Powell would first have to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation.

Sherry Hill, spokeswoman for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services, said in an interview that Powell was entitled to visit the boys every Sunday from noon to 4 p.m.

"This was a regularly scheduled, supervised visit, and the court had ordered those," she said.

"We had no indication that there was going to be any harm to the children, or a suicide. And had we suspected any of those things, we would have gone immediately to the court and addressed those concerns."

It was not clear how Powell's death would affect the investigation into his wife's disappearance, being conducted by police in West Valley City, Utah.

"Quite frankly, this has obviously quickly unfolded up in Washington and we’re obviously just working through the details ourselves here," West Valley City Police Sgt. Mike Powell, who is not related to the Powell family, told the Salt Lake Tribune. The police chief there was expected to fly to Washington on Monday.

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Too little too late - they should have allowed visitation
in another location =- like a playground or neutral public location. Does anyone know do the Cox family have other children - did Susan have siblings?

I think she does have a sister.

And, I agree. IF they were going to allow visitation (which due to the fact he was a POI in her murder, they should NOT have) Yes..it should have been in a public venue.

I am in shock that Josh was allowed supervised visits at his OWN home, where he and his father were suspected in the porn, etc.... Here in my town there are facilities for these exact situations where the supervised visits are held at a facility NOT the non custodial parents own home!!!

I have no words, I am hearing of this for first time reading it here. In a few minutes I will be so angry I may blow my top. I am so sick of our children getting no protection. Why in the hell were this piece of sh*ts rights more valuable than those children's safety. Even if there was no evidence he would harm them, HE KILLED THEIR MOTHER! Ok, don't arrest him and charge him for her murder since there is "no evidence", just everyone with half a brain KNOWS he did it....but WHY let him be anywhere near those children. and especially after all the REAL EVIDENCE of porn they found on the computers and couldn't someone determine if he was "off" enough to order that kind of evaluation that maybe, just maybe he should NOT be around children!!!
This is more than devastating, this is sickening! I better not hear that POS's father or his lawyer say something about his poor son being driven to this by the courts and the media's scrutiny of an innocent man, BUT MARK MY WORDS< I'll bet that will be said.

Sorry guys I am a litttle upset right now.....

This is the first I have heard of this. I am in shock and horrified also. Why did he have to kill his boys? POS coward!

The e-mail from [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] was two sentences long.

"I’m sorry. Goodbye," Josh Powell had written to his cousin, Nathan Leach, along with other family members.

Leach, a cousin of Powell’s in Texas, panicked when he saw the message Sunday afternoon.

Leach knew his cousin had been under mounting stress as he waged a bitter custody dispute with his in-laws, Chuck and Judy Cox. From afar, Leach watched as his cousin was put under a microscope as a person of interest in the disappearance of Susan Cox Powell, last seen in West Valley City in 2009.

When Leach saw Powell’s cryptic e-mail, he recounted frantically calling his sister as well as Josh’s brother and sister Michael and Alina Powell. He then called 911 from Texas to send emergency services to Josh’s home in Puyallup.

"I thought he was going to harm himself," Leach said in a Sunday evening interview. But what happened next was unimaginable, he said.

By the time emergency responders arrived at the home, it was in flames. Josh and his two sons were dead.

Leach said Josh Powell’s family is now left trying to comprehend what went horribly wrong.

Leach spoke to Michael Powell on Sunday night, who said he had no indication his brother planned to commit suicide.

"According to Michael there was no talk of any of this," Leach said. "That was a very horrible choice he made. I can’t imagine the pressure that took him there, none of us can."

Leach said the Powell family is mourning not only the violent death of family members, but is also upset over the circumstances that led up to Sunday’s inferno.

Josh Powell had been cyberbullied since his wife’s disappearance, on Facebook pages dedicated to finding Susan that named him as a suspect and slandered his behavior, Leach said. The possibility of Josh Powell being required to undergo an invasive psychosexual evaluation as part of his custody dispute, also troubles the family, Leach said.

"I can tell you that Josh was terrorized. I’m sure there are people out there who would consider this appropriate given the mass assumption of his guilt. We all want to see criminals pay for what they have done, but when evidence lacks for due process to make this happen, is this the appropriate method of alternate prosecution? This reminds me of North Korea’s process — walk the accused out into a field and put a bullet in them. The difference here is that everybody spends their time enjoying the prelude as some form of sick entertainment while posting Bible scriptures to justify to themselves the reason for which they are finding so much enjoyment," Leach said.

"We are all outraged at what has happened, both for Josh’s really abhorrent final act and for the actions of the other people involved. We can’t help but wonder if this could have been prevented otherwise."

Leach said funeral arrangements for Josh Powell are up in the air, but said he hopes the Powell and Cox families can reach some sort of truce so all can mourn the deaths of family members together.

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Josh Powell had been cyberbullied since his wife’s disappearance, on Facebook pages dedicated to finding Susan that named him as a suspect and slandered his behavior, Leach said. The possibility of Josh Powell being required to undergo an invasive psychosexual evaluation as part of his custody dispute, also troubles the family, Leach said.

"I can tell you that Josh was terrorized.

Poor little Joshie... Here it comes...The family "circling the wagons" about how badly scumbag had been treated.

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West Valley City Police Chief Buzz Nielsen says that the case against Josh Powell in the disappearance of his wife Susan was was largely circumstantial, but that they were making progress.

Susan Cox Powell was reported missing on Dec. 6, 2009, and an investigation quickly pointed to her husband Josh Powell as the sole person of interest in the case.

Josh has maintained his innocence in the disappearance, saying that he had been camping in western Utah with his two sons, Charles and Braden, then 4 and 2 years old, when Susan went missing.

The investigation spread to Washington, where Josh moved with the two boys shortly after Susan's disappearance and West Valley City Police detectives had been working in coordination with the Pierce County Sheriff's Office in their investigation against Josh and his father Steven, with whom Josh and the boys were living.

Josh Powell and his two sons, now 5 and 7, were killed Sunday afternoon in a planned, intentional explosion inside the Powells' Graham, Wash., home shortly after a case worker brought the boys for supervised visitation.

Nielsen told FOX 13 on Sunday that the recent investigation had focused on maintaining the safety of the two boys, especially in recent months as Josh fought for custody.

"Our concern was, as we prepared the criminal case, we wanted to to make sure some of our energy was shifted towards protecting those two boys. Our whole focus in the last 6 to 8 months, we always kept Josh as a target but our whole focus was those two boys," said Nielsen.

Investigators thought they'd covered their bases, but then word of Josh's final deadly act came out Sunday afternoon. Nielsen said he is shocked, saddened and disgusted by Sunday's events.

"This is probably the worst. A father and his two sons, first his wife, mother of these two boys and then him and his two sons. It's one thing to have him get charged and deal with it but it's evil what he did to his two sons," Nielsen said.

Nielsen said their case against Josh was strong, but mostly circumstantial. They had hoped to charge him as early as this summer. Nielsen said Josh was intelligent and evasive.

"And most of the time during the criminal side of the investigation, Josh was calculating. He had a couple strategies in the case that we knew about in the method of how he wanted to be perceived and all of these things," said Nielsen.

Last summer, there had been several high-profile searches in Nevada and western Utah that ultimately found no evidence of Susan, but a search of the Powells' Puyallup, Wash., home by both the West Valley City Police Dept. and Pierce County Sheriff's Office yielded a multitude of evidence that enabled officers to arrest Steven Powell on charges of voyeurism involving children and the loss of custody of the two boys, who went to live with Chuck and Judy Cox, their maternal grandparents.

"Josh wan't prepared for us and all these criminal cases. We had things like Steven was charged and then the kids removed and they took stuff out of the house and Pierce County and they still have an on-going criminal investigation so I don't want to say too much but all of that was initiated out of this case here," said Nielsen.

West Valley City detectives are en route to Washington and Nielsen will be heading up there Monday to help in the investigation into the death of Josh and the boys.

Nielsen said they will now try to get a judge to release some of the information in the case of Susan's disappearance now that Josh has died.

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Steven Powell, the jailed father of Josh Powell and grandfather of Charles and Braden Powell, has been placed on suicide watch.

Josh Powell and his two young sons are believed to have died in a home explosion on Sunday afternoon. Steven has been held at the Pierce County Jail since September 2011 when he was charged with possessing child pornography and videotaping women, including Susan Cox Powell, Josh's missing wife.

Pierce County deputies said Steven was uncooperative with questions about the explosion and was not overly emotional.

Authorities believe that the explosion was an intentional act of murder-suicide by Josh.

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There's a growing memorial to the slain Powell boys at the elementary school they attended in Puyallup.
Dozens of people gathered at Carson Elementary to place candles, stuffed animals, balloons and messages out front. Among them was Denise Cox, the sister of the boys' missing mother, Susan Powell.
The boys died Sunday afternoon in a fast-moving fire at their father's home. Authorities say it's apparent that Josh Powell set the fire deliberately. Powell was a person of interest in his wife's disappearance two years ago from the home they shared in West Valley City, Utah. Josh Powell was recently denied custody of the boys, who had been living with Susan's parents for several months, ever since Josh Powell's father was arrested in a voyeurism case.

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Deadly Explosion at Josh Powell's Home

By KEVIN DOLAK, OLIVIA KATRANDJIAN, DEAN SCHABNER and COLLEEN CURRY
Feb. 6, 2012

The young sons of Susan and Josh Powell, who died with their father when he ignited an explosion in their Washington home, were beginning to verbalize that their mother was in the trunk of their father's car on the night that she disappeared in 2009, a lawyer for the missing woman's parents said.

Attorney Steve Downing told the Associated Press that Braden and Charles Powell, who were 2 and 4 at the time of Susan Powell's disappearance, were beginning to tell their grandparents details about the night that their father took them on a late-night camping trip during a blizzard, including the fact that their mother disappeared after leaving in the car with their father.

"They were beginning to verbalize more," Downing said. "The oldest boy talked about that they went camping and that mommy was in the trunk. Mom and dad got out of the car and mom disappeared."

Sgt. Mike Powell of the West Valley City Police Department in Utah did not return phone calls inquiring about the children's assertions about their mother's presence on the December 2009 camping trip, AP reported.

"Quite frankly, this has obviously quickly unfolded up in Washington and we're obviously just working through the details ourselves here," Powell, who is not related to the family, said earlier on Sunday.

Josh Powell set off an explosion at his home Sunday that killed himself and his two sons, who were there for a supervised visit.

"We believe that he killed his kids and himself," Pierce County, Wash., Sheriff's Department spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer said Sunday.

Josh Powell's lawyer, Jeffrey Bassett, said he received an email from his client minutes before the explosion that said "I'm sorry, goodbye," but he didn't see it until two hours later, when he was informed of the blast.

Bassett told AP he knew his client was upset about being denied custody of his sons at a court hearing last week, when he was ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation and polygraph test in order to get them back.

Graham, Wash., Deputy Chief Gary Franz told ABC News that a Child Protective Services (CPS) worker had just dropped off Powell's two sons at the house for a supervised visit. Powell took his two sons inside the house and then locked the CPS worker out.

"The children were just right in front of her as she was walking up to the door," Child Protective Services spokeswoman Sherry Hill said. "They went into the house and Josh shut the door right in front of her and locked it."

The CPS worker smelled gas, stepped away and the house exploded. The case worker was not physically harmed.

"He grabbed the kids, locked her out of the house, and immediately the house went up in flames, very quickly, very big, so we believe that Josh Powell intentionally set this fire," Troyer said.

Firefighters arrived at the scene and found the three bodies. Police are awaiting verification from the Medical Examiner's Office, but said they believe the bodies are those of Josh Powell and his two sons.

Troyer told ABC News affiliate KOMO-TV in Seattle that emails Powell sent to authorities seemed to confirm that Powell planned the explosion. Troyer did not elaborate on the contents of the emails.

The house, which was on a dead end in a quiet residential neighborhood, has burned down to a charred frame.

Josh Powell is the only named person-of-interest in Susan Powell's 2009 disappearance, but he had not been charged. The couple's two sons were placed in custody of Susan Powell's parents in 2011 after Josh Powell's father, Steve Powell, was arrested on charges of voyeurism and child pornography.

At a hearing Wednesday, a statement from the West Valley City, Utah, police noted that information and images were found on Josh Powell's computer that "specifically related to their children's welfare," according to ABC affiliate KTVX in Salt Lake City.

The police did not specify what the information was, but Judge Kathryn J. Nelson ruled that because of that information, Josh Powell would not be allowed to have his children back until he submitted to a psychosexual evaluation and a polygraph test, the report said.

Bassett, Josh Powell's attorney, said the ruling was unfair to his client, who has not been charged with any crimes.

"Utah was dangling the alleged content of this disk. If this disk contains what they're saying it contains why haven't they arrested my client?" he said at the hearing.

The children were to remain with Chuck and Judy Cox until Josh Powell's next hearing, which was scheduled for July. Josh Powell was allowed twice-weekly supervised visitations with his sons during that time, KTVX reported.

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lisette wrote:

I’m sure there are people out there who would consider this appropriate given the mass assumption of his guilt.

Consider this APPROPRIATE??? No, Cousin Nathan...I don't think ANYBODY thinks it's appropriate to blow up two precious little boys!!!

Who can sleep? Not I!! Had nightmares about those poor babies!! Cannot imagine being yanked into the house. That in itself, considering what the boys have been through their entire lives, is enough right there..then, to be submitted to his grand finale is beyond comprehension!!!

Appropriate? FGS, that is the most Ignorant statement I've ever heard!!

Laga, I agree with All you said.

We KNOW some family and friends will weave this to make it sound like that bastard had no other choice! And, to top it off, the boys had started talking. Mommy was in the trunk. She sure as hell was!! And Then what did he do to her? He killed her in their home!! Remember the fan that was on pointed to a stain in the carpet? Did we ever hear what that stain was? Blood, bleach?

by KING 5 News and Associated Press
Posted on February 5, 2012 at 1:31 PM
Updated yesterday at 10:46 PM

GRAHAM, Wash. – Pierce County Sheriff's officials say the bodies of Josh Powell and his two young sons were found after an explosion and fire at a home in Graham.
Graham Deputy Fire Chief Gary Franz said the explosion occurred just after noon Sunday, moments after a Child Protective Services worker brought the two boys to the home for a supervised visit.

He said Powell let the boys in the house, then blocked the social worker from entering. The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas, and the home exploded.

"The fire started immediately, it went very fast, very hot, burned very quick so we believe there was accelerants used - the fire department does - it was set intentionally," said Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce Co. Sheriff's Office.

"We don't believe it to be anybody other than Josh Powell and his kids, and we believe he intentionally did it," he said.

Firefighters quickly knocked down the fire and discovered the bodies. The home was completely destroyed.
The caseworker was not hurt but is said to be traumatized.

A lawyer for Josh Powell told the Associated Press he received a three-word email from his client just minutes before the explosion. It said, "I'm sorry, goodbye."

Attorney Jeffrey Bassett said the email arrived at 12:05 p.m. Sunday, but he didn't see it until two hours later, when others informed him of the blast.

“This is pure evil. This was not a tragedy. This is the murder of two young children," said Paul Pastor, Pierce Co. Sheriff.

Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the Washington state Department of Social and Health Services, said the social worker who was with the children Sunday was not a Child Protective Services employee but a contract worker with a private agency that supervises visits for the state.

"The visit supervisor for this particular agency had taken the children to the home. When she does that, she sits through the visit and might take notes on her observations," Hill said. "She pulled up in the car, and the kids ran out ahead of her. He closed the door and locked it. She wasn't able to get in, and that's when she smelled gas."

An attorney for the Cox family released a statement saying the family is "devastated by this horrific event. The family is grieving and there are no words to adequately express the loss of their beloved grandsons, Charlie and Braden. The family is grateful for the prayers and thoughts of so many."

Gov. Chris Gregoire released a statement, saying "I am deeply saddened by reports that two young children, Charles and Braden Powell, lost their life today in a terrible tragedy.

“My heart is heavy with their loss and my thoughts go out to the children's family, friends, and schoolmates. This is a very sad day.”

Powell a person of interest in wife's disappearance
Josh Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife from their West Valley City, Utah, home in December 2009. He claimed he had taken the boys on a midnight excursion in freezing temperatures when she vanished.

The children, 5 and 7, had been living with Susan Powell's parents since Josh Powell's father Steven was arrested on child porn and voyeurism charges last fall. On Wednesday, a judge had denied an attempt by Josh Powell to regain custody, saying she wouldn't consider returning the two boys to their father until he underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation.

Sgt. Ed Troyer said that Steven Powell was put on suicide watch on Sunday.

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They were working on an arrest warrant to arrest Josh Powell "sometime this Summer"?????

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(CNN) -- Shortly before he set fire to his Puyallup, Washington, house and killed himself and his two sons, Josh Powell -- a suspect in the 2009 disappearance of his wife -- apparently sent a three-word e-mail to his attorney.

It said simply: "I'm sorry. Goodbye."

It was a tragic end to a puzzling case that began two years ago in West Valley City, Utah, with the disappearance of 28-year-old Susan Cox-Powell and devolved into a bitter custody dispute between Powell and his wife's parents.

Pierce County, Washington, sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer accused Powell of committing murder-suicide, saying Sunday's fire "was done intentionally."

"This was all on him," Troyer said. "He set this up. He did it."

The sheriff's department has copies of an e-mail Powell sent to his attorney as well as family and friends that said "he couldn't live with what was going on," Troyer said.

While a medical examiner had yet to identify the bodies definitively, the sheriff's spokesman said "we believe it is the three of them."

"This was something that was done deliberately and intentionally, and the plan was carried out very quickly," he said.

The bodies were all found together in the same room of the home, Troyer said.

The events appeared to have been set in motion days earlier when a judge refused Powell's petition to regain custody of his children and instead ordered he undergo psychological evaluations -- an order that came after authorities turned up child pornography in the home he shared with his father.

As part of the investigation into Cox-Powell's disappearance, Utah authorities searched the Washington house where Powell, his two sons and his father, Steven Powell, were living last year.

During the search, investigators "discovered numerous images and recordings of adult and juvenile females," according to a statement released by the Pierce County sheriff's department.

Josh Powell's wife, Susan Powell-Cox, has been missing for more than two years.

Powell's father, Steven, was subsequently charged with 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of possessing images of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct, according to court documents.

Following the arrest of Powell's father, custody of his sons was given to his wife's parents, Judith and Charles Cox, according to Washington state court records.

On Sunday, shortly after noon, Powell was standing outside his home in a quiet, tree-lined cul-de-sac waiting for a social worker to bring his two boys -- Braden, 5, and Charlie, 7 -- for a supervised visit, authorities said.
As the children got to the door, Powell pushed the social worker back, quickly brought the two boys inside and locked the door.

The social worker, who later reported smelling something similar to gas at the time, tried "pounding the doors, trying to get in," said Gary Franz, a deputy chief with Graham Fire and Rescue.

About two minutes later, as the social worker was calling her supervisor, the house exploded, Franz said.
The powerful explosion shook houses and rattled windows, with debris landing on lawns blocks away.
"All the walls in the house were on fire, almost immediately," neighbor Ryan Mickle told CNN affiliate KIRO-TV . "I didn't hear anybody inside."

Jennifer Bleakley, who lived near the Powell home, was making coffee in the kitchen when the explosion violently rattled windows and doors in her home.

"It really hurts my heart. My heart ached for those boys anyway," she told CNN affiliate KOMO-TV , wiping away tears.

News of the explosion and deaths quickly made it to Utah, sending shock waves through the Cox family.

"I think this is his admission of guilt, and he just couldn't handle it anymore," Kirk Graves, Powell's brother-in-law, told CNN affiliate KUTV-TV .

Powell was the sole suspect, according to West Valley City Police Chief Buzz Nielsen, in the disappearance of his wife, who went missing on a cold December night in 2009.
"We always kept Josh as a target," Nielsen told CNN affiliate KSTU-TV.

According to investigators, Powell had said the last time he saw his wife was the night he and his two sons -- then 2 and 4 -- left to go camping.

Powell told authorities he left the house sometime after midnight in below-freezing weather for a desert area in Utah's Tooele County.

Cox-Powell's sister eventually reported her missing. A month later, Powell and his children moved from Utah to Washington.

As late as last month, Utah authorities were still working to connect Powell to the disappearance of his wife, who authorities believe is dead.

"We just needed a little bit more. Everywhere we looked, it always came back to Josh," Nielsen said.

It was this belief that appears to have driven Powell to attempt to cast off suspicion in an affidavit filed as part of last week's custody hearing.

"If anyone wants to be honest with themselves and the situation, the real story is not that anyone is a bad person, including me," he said. "The story is one of overcoming and rising above what many people think are insurmountable challenges."

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I normally don't agree with Nancy Grace, but I agree with every word she says in the above video.

Did authorities do enough to protect Powell boys?

(AP) SEATTLE - State authorities can expect tough questions about whether more might have been done to protect a missing Utah woman's two children, who died along with their father after authorities say he ignited his home in an inferno Sunday.

Josh Powell was a person of interest in his wife's disappearance. Why was he allowed to meet with his sons at all? Why weren't more precautions taken, such as requiring that supervised visits be at a neutral site rather than at his home?

The answers rest largely in that no concrete evidence has emerged publicly linking him with Susan Powell's disappearance, and Josh Powell was never arrested or charged in the case. Josh Powell had custody of the boys for nearly two years after his wife vanished. And it was only because his father — with whom Josh Powell and the boys lived — was arrested in a voyeurism and child pornography case last fall that the children were taken out of the home and placed with Susan's parents.

Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the Children's Administration at the Department of Social and Health Services, said state authorities work closely with courts to determine whether supervised visits should be allowed and whether they should be held at a parent's home or at a neutral site.

"If there had been any indication of suicidal thoughts, or anything that we would have thought there was an intent to harm the children, we would have taken immediate action," she said. "If we had thought that, we would have done what we could. I don't think there's anything else we could have done."

And as devastated as Susan's parents are to have lost her and now her sons, they aren't critical of how the custody case was handled, said their attorney, Steve Downing.

"They knew that legally he would probably have supervised visitation," Downing said. "It was their belief he had something to do with Susan's disappearance, and that ultimately he could harm the children. But they believed the state had listened to them and had taken appropriate measures to protect them. They don't know what more the state could have done."

Supervised visits are typically ordered to take place at a neutral site in cases of documented abuse or domestic violence, Downing said. Powell had been having supervised visits with the boys twice a week, three hours at a time, for about four months.

The court ordered a psychological evaluation of Josh Powell last October. After it was completed, the psychologist received information from police in West Valley City, Utah, about undisclosed materials found on his computer during a search in 2009. That material prompted the psychologist to recommend a psycho-sexual evaluation before Powell be given custody or expanded visitation rights.

For his part, Josh Powell had argued in court papers that it was unfair for his children to be removed from his care based on something his father had done. In supervised visits, twice a week for three hours apiece, he demonstrated his love of the boys and his competence as a caregiver, he insisted. He believed that a Child Protective Services investigation completed Nov. 30 clearing him of negligent treatment or maltreatment of his boys should have paved the way for their return home.

"No child wants to be taken from their parents and it is not reasonable to continue this process," he wrote in a court declaration last Wednesday. "At this point, it is only by bending and breaking the rules that anyone even tries to keep it going."

The judge disagreed, ordering the psycho-sexual evaluation.

Powell's attorney, Jeffrey Bassett, said Powell was extremely upset about the decision.

"The last conversation I had with him, we were looking to move forward, to comply with the evaluation and go from there," Bassett said. "This is a total shock."

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The Cox's were only doing what The State of Washington told them to do..and that is..leave custody w/them and ALLOW supervised visit's at Josh Powell's home.

When will the State's step up to the plate and DIS-allow supervised visits or ANY visit's when the father is a POI in the murder of the missing mother? I cannot wrap my head around this at all and I hope the judge that ordered the visits at Powell's home isn't sleeping a wink!!

He had custody because Childrens Services is over-worked and staffed and because the philosophy is to keep children with the parents whenever possible - ignoring big warning signs. He should never have been allowed to have visitiation in his home - he was a person of interest in his wife's murder and he should have only been allowed to visit them at the Childrens services facility under supervision. His own fathers arrest should have cemented the fact that he not be allowed visitation in his home under any circumstances.They have NO common sense at all in my mind -because all these agencies do the same stupid things over and over again.

Agree, Art!!