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Subscribe to RSSJosh Powell took the lives of his two sons in a house fire. Powell was a 'person of interest' in his wife's 2009 disappearance. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports.
Updated at 10:07 p.m. ET: The preliminary autopsy results of Josh Powell and his two sons show that they suffered from carbon monoxide poisoning, and the boys also suffered from other injuries.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner tells KING 5 TV that 7-year-old Charles suffered "chop" injuries to the neck and 5-year-old Braden suffered similar injuries to the neck and head. Both the wounds and carbon monoxide poisoning were contributing factors in their deaths, the medical examiner said.
Pierce County sheriff officials say a hatchet was recovered next to the bodies in the home.
Powell, the husband of missing Utah woman Susan Powell, died along with his children in a fire at his house Sunday, just days after he was denied custody and ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation. Police say Powell deliberately set the fire.
Updated at 5:53 p.m. ET: Josh Powell methodically planned the deadly fire that killed himself and his two young sons for some time and sent final emails to multiple people, a sheriff’s spokesman said on Monday.
"We believe he planned this event out and had taken certain steps. This is definitely a deliberate, planned out event," Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer said during a press conference in Graham, Wash.
Authorities recovered two, five-gallon cans of gasoline inside the rented Washington home. Gasoline from one five-gallon can was spread throughout the house and used as an accelerant in the huge blaze. The other can was found by the three bodies, Troyer said.
"I'm sorry, goodbye," Powell wrote to his attorney just minutes before he set fire the house.
Troyer said Powell sent longer emails to other people, including his cousin and pastor, with instructions such as where to find his money and how to shut off his utilities.
But none of the emails said anything about what happened to his wife, Troyer said, adding, “there was no indication about Susan.”
Updated at 5:19 p.m. ET: GRAHAM, Wash. – The maternal grandparents of Josh Powell's two young sons say the boys were playing happily Sunday at their home and didn't want to visit their father, KIRO-TV reported.
“They were having a good time and didn’t want to stop and see daddy,” Chuck Cox told KIRO TV in Seattle. “They seemed to be losing interest in going to see him. They liked it here.”
Kirk Graves, the brother-in-law of Josh Powell, said Powell, who killed himself and his own children in a home explosion, "used the boys as a tool" to hurt his family. Sgt. Ed Troyer talks about what law enforcement has done.
But their grandmother, Judy Cox, told KIRO-TV that she talked the boys into a court-ordered, supervised child custody visit with their father — a decision she now regrets.
"Look what happened," Judy Cox tearfully told the Seattle station. "But I knew that they're supposed to be able to see their dad."
Authorities say Josh Powell set his home ablaze Sunday, killing himself and his sons -- 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles -- shortly after the boys were brought to the home by a social worker for a supervised visit. By the time the social worker got to the door, Powell had let his sons in but locked her out, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz told The Associated Press.
"What happened here 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," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor told The Seattle Times on Monday.
Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife, Susan Powell, from their home in West Valley City, Utah, in December 2009.
'Warning signs'
Charles Cox said he didn't think there was any more the court could have done legally to protect his grandsons, but he wished there had been.
"There were too many warning signs that I feel were known, but due to legal limitations were unable to be acted upon," he said.
Charlie and Braden Powell shared a bedroom in the Cox's Puyallup home since last fall, when they were removed from their father's custody.
Just days before the fatal blast and fire, a judge ordered Powell to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation, which included taking a polygraph test, as part of his petition to regain custody of his sons.
During the hearing Powell's attorney, Jeffrey Bassett, said Powell was extremely upset and described the decision as a “total shock.”
Earlier:
GRAHAM, Wash. -- The two boys of a Utah man suspected in his wife's disappearance and then of killing himself and his sons in an intentional fire were starting to talk about what happened the night their mother vanished, with one noting she was "in the trunk" of the car, an attorney said.
Authorities say Josh Powell set his home ablaze Sunday, killing himself and his sons -- 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles -- shortly after the boys were brought to the home by a social worker for a supervised visit.
Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife, Susan Powell, from their home in West Valley City, Utah, in December 2009.
"It's the most horrifying thing you can imagine happening," said lawyer Steve Downing, who represented Susan Powell's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox, in a custody fight for the boys. "The Coxes are absolutely devastated. They were always very fearful of him doing something like this, and he did it."
Downing also told The Associated Press that the children had started talking to their grandparents about things they remembered from the night their mother vanished.
"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."
Police say Josh Powell, the lone person of interest in the two-year-old disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell, deliberately set his house on fire Sunday, killing himself and his two young sons. NBC's Miguel Almaguer reports from Graham, Wash.
'Acting like little boys again'
Kirk Graves, 39, of West Jordan, Utah, Josh Powell's brother-in-law, said he and his wife, Jennifer (Josh Powell's sister), were stunned by the news.
Appearing on Monday's TODAY, Kirk Graves confirmed that his nephews were opening up about their memories of the day their mother disappeared.
“We saw over the last six months or so was a transition in Charlie and Braden where they were becoming more fun, more vocal, they were acting like little boys again, which we hadn’t seen for a while," he said. "The specific story you’re talking about (the night Susan disappeared) is one that we were aware of and I imagine that part of Josh’s motivation was what could he do to hide that story to avoid dealing with the consequences of the things he had done.”
Graves said he believed Powell was determined to "hurt everybody around him, and used the boys as a tool to do that.”
"I’m convinced that Josh was going to do something like this and there’s absolutely nothing anybody could have done to stop him. … The only person at fault, the only person who is to blame, is Josh," he said.
Jeffrey Bassett, Josh Powell's attorney, said his client "never once admitted doing anything regarding Susan. In fact, he denied it."
Powell claimed he had taken the boys on a midnight excursion in freezing temperatures when Susan vanished. The inquiry into her death took an odd turn last year after Powell's father, Steven, was arrested for investigation of voyeurism and possessing child pornography. Josh Powell was living at his father's home at the time, and a judge gave the Coxes custody of the boys.
View images of the fire at NBC station King5.com
Last week, a judge ruled that the children must remain in the custody of the Coxes, and that they would remain with them unless their father agreed to undergo psycho-sexual evaluation.
'I'm sorry, goodbye'
When the boys came to Powell's home for their visit on Sunday, he let them in, but then blocked the social worker from entering, said Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz.
The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas, and the home erupted in flames.
Neighbors had reported hearing an explosion, but Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the home was destroyed by a blaze that blew out several windows and was aided by some sort of accelerant.
“He was lying in wait, he had this pre-planned. He had everything ready to go and this was going to happen no matter who dropped those boys off," Troyer told NBC's TODAY on Monday. "This is basically a double-murder suicide and he’s the one that’s solely responsible for it.”
Bassett told The AP that he got a three-word email from his client just minutes before the fire. It said, "I'm sorry, goodbye." 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 fire.
'This has become a crime scene'
Authorities said they found three bodies in the home late Sunday afternoon as fire crews and police continued to search the rubble.
"Everything we know right now, this has become a crime scene," Franz said.
Sherry Hill, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social and Health Services, said the social worker who was with the children 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."
More photos: Blaze at Josh Powell's home
Troyer said the elder Powell was put on suicide watch in custody after he was told of the deadly blast. "Steve Powell didn't seem very upset by the news, but was angry towards authorities who notified him," he said.
NBC station King5.com said a memorial had sprung up to the boys at the elementary school that Charlie attended in Puyallup, Wash. Dozens of people gathered to place candles, stuffed animals, balloons and messages out front.
"They were fun loving, they had a great attitude," Graves said of his nephews. "We’d seen some of that disappear as they’d been living with Josh in Steve’s home and it was starting to come back."
The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.
More content from msnbc.com and NBC News
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With grandpa having kiddie porn on his computer I wonder if he showed it to the kids and tried to get them into a porn act. And maybe they told mom and she said something to Josh about it and that led to all this happing. Its a terrible thing to take the lives of children or anyone for that matter.
Sin.
Yes...the Social Worker is partly to blame. They had her go with the children in order to PROTECT them. She let them run ahead and into the house. Everyone knew that this nut-case was a ticking time-bomb. It's too bad that this nut-case took his children with him. They had a wonderful life with their Grandparents. Obviously, the judge wanted supervised visits for a reason.
One can only hope there's a special place in Hell reserved for this sniveling coward.
Another feather in the cap of a 'child protective services' agency. A guy who's been ordered to go for psycho-sexual evaluation--and has further been suspect of his wife's disappearance--should never have been allowed to have even supervised visits in his home; those kinds of visits are to be in a neutral environment.
If josh graves had suspicions or he was told of this by the boys why didn't he go to the authorities and inform him.
He should be arrested for withholding this information which could have saved these kids.
The boys were beginning to talk about their mother being in the trunk of daddy's car, and the authorities let them visit daddy anyway? Would it not have made more sense for the boys to have been kept away from him altogether until the case was closed? Seems like kind of a big "oversight".
nikolause20, it seems that the kids didn't tell the authorities they told the fathers relatives. As I stated above they should be held accountable for not informing the authorities.
The visits should have taken place somewhere else besides his home. If that would have been done this terible thing wouldn't have happened. I feel sorry for the boy's grandparents family in Utah never learning where he hid her body. May he rot in HELL.
That PoS exploded himself and those two innocent lives. I was not too far from that location and heard it all. He is outright guilty. I hope Hell serves him well.
Yes, I too wonder why the state let him go in the first place. Now they have to live with the choice of letting him off for the murder of his wife...and his children...WAKE up people...murderers are among us, and they are being let go by the droves. We read it in the paper everyday, I for one hold the criminal Justice system accountable also...RIP kids...& Mom....
Comment below deleted, Eric Maxwell extrapolation-trolling on arrival, smearing all white people as '@!$%#ing animals'. Banned.
I saw this last night and it broke my Heart. God Bless those little boys. Rot in HELL JOSH!
Remember Josh can still be forgiven by our Lord
Jesus will only forgive those who ask for it before death. Once a person crosses to the other side, nothing will change His mind.
From what I have seen and heard about Josh, he has no conscience. There is nothing for the Holy Spirit to work with.
And how can he ask forgiveness now that he is dead? I don't really think saying forgive me I'm about to murder someone works.
OH PLEASE...
You said it, from what we've seen, Just maybe God has seen Josh in a different way. God will be the only judge now, and he is the only judge that matters anyway.
So he can just magically ask for forgiveness when he's dead. Riight.
The last time I checked killing someone was a forgivable sin in the eyes of the Lord. He could have asked for forgiveness before all of these events. The only non forgivable sin is non belief.
I actually like your way of thinking, every morning when I get up I will ask God to forgive any sins I will commit that day, thanks I guess the other way is so wrong.
What a complete scumbag! I'm not blaming the state, but wasn't Josh Powell's father arrested for having child pornography on his computer and weren't him and his son living in the same house? With that being asked, that means the father couldn't come in contact with any children, right? So why was visitation even allowed to be at the home instead of at a state facility with high security if the children were "verbalizing"? Maybe I'm thinking too much into the situation. He has plenty more burning to do!
Unbelievable to do this to innocents! Sadly, for children who have not yet learned to read, it's easy to mistake adults meanings with trunk, truck, etc. The back of (any) vehicle is what visually could come to a child's mind, without the knowledge of exact nouns and emotions. This guy was a psycho-control freak-and God knows what else deviant had to eliminate any threat! Then his own dad was angry at the officers who delivered the news, rather than feel anything else. What a twisted pair.
So sad for the Cox's family & the remaining 'sane' powell family; condolences to those left to pick up the pieces.
Thank GOD the gov't was there to help...oh wait.
this tragic event did not have to occur, even the grandparents of the two children pleaded to not let the father have those kids...Child Proctection Services should be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law
I AGREE 100%!!!!
The COURT ordered the visitation. Talk to the Judge who made the decision.
1. If Steve Powell wants to hang himself in his cell because his murderous son blew himself up, let him. Steve Powell is clearly insane anyway. Maybe that's where his son got it from. No suicide watch needed. If he wants to do himself in, who cares.
2. SUPERVISED visitation SHOULD MEAN that the attending adult is with the children from the time they exit the car, until the time the re-enter the car. The children should not have been allowed to just jump out of the car and leave the "visit supervisor" sitting in the car while they ran up to the door and into the lunatic father's house. Wouldn't ANYBODY know that this is the perfect opportunity for a crazy person to lock the "visit supervisor" out?? The supervisor should always enter "before" the children if not "with" the children to insure that the supervisor doesn't get locked out. C'mon now. It's not rocket science! Maybe if the "visit supervisor" had held the children back and all had gone to the door together, instead of the children being allowed to exit the car and leave the "supervisor" in the car and enter the father's home "unsupervised" the gas may have been smelled by the "supervisor" while she had the children in hand and they could have turned and gotten out of there!
I agree with the majority of people who are wondering why in the hell were these innocent children allowed to be around him!!!!!!!!!! & especially at his home??? WTH?? I'm so angry over this. It's not the Social Workers fault, but the state definitely had a huge role in these poor children dying. So many warning signs were there!! I'm so sorry for The Cox family...there's just no words...
This is so horrible, he ws lying in wait to get his kids so he could commit suicide and take along his kids for the ride. This man was an insane killer and even thinking that he could have killed his wife I would never let him see his kids alone or at his property.
Josh's final act certainly was not that of an Innocent men. It was more like that of a wild trapped animal. The noose was tightening around him and he had nowhere to go. I feel bad for those poor little kids. They must have suffered a horrible death. I hope They are reunited With their Mother in heaven. josh is certainly burning in hell!
1. Why did DSHS allow visitation if the father was under court order to undergo a "psycho-sexual examination"? Are they f-cking out of their MINDS?
2. If they HAD to allow a supervised visitation, why not have an armed law enforcement officer supervise the visit as well? It's the father who should have been escorted by a Sheriff's officer to a safe place where the kids were supervised. Not the way it happened.
3. The outsourced social worker was at the time a contracted employee of the State of Washington. Said contract worker walked the children into a death-trap. Therefore, the State of Washington is guilty of two counts of criminally negligent homicide, and one count of being completely f-cking worthless.
Susan, you can come out now
Art you are pathetic. Please any woman in this nuts life run as fast as you can. Anyone that ignores the facts and sides with two perverts is as sick as they are and it's a matter of time before he does disgusting things like these two pukes.
gramgigi I think you need help, even when faced with only circumstantial evidence at best( Susan Powell case) you want to berate and convict someone. This is the same type of behavior that ended Things for Jesus!!
You are ready to convict Susan Powell of running off because two perverts said so and you think I need help?
The whole problem is the penal system. One person is scheduled to be in court in more than one jurisdiction at the same time. One court makes a decision and another vacates it. We need to overhaul the whole penal and social system so that it streamlines the process and trains the judges and social-workers the same way a psychiatrist or a psychologist is. Then the workers and the judges would know what they were up against and be able to make a decision that helped the people involved, instead of hurting or killing them.
Yes you are right, but good luck. There are no checks and balances in our current system and each Judge is like a pampered King that is above the law she or he dispenses. Like I said before God sets things straight.
I've been watching this case since it started. Is this the moment they call "Jumping the Shark"? Not all shows end "happily ever after."
I know it's probably already been questioned but why were the boys taken there to meet their father, why not at a Mcdonalds, or someplace where even the grandparents could have been present just in case Josh got any wild ideas. My prayers are for the grandparents that they will eventually be able to get past this and live a full life.
I know innocent until proven guilty, but boy - blowing yourself and kids up when they start talking about "mommy in the trunk" erased any doubt in my mind (there wasn't much) about his guilt in doing away with his wife.
Most cases don't get to me, but for some reason this one tears me up. What a useless piece of ___.
There is no concrete evidence that he did kill his wife and small children can be led to say anything by family members. This is a terrible act committed by a very disturbed and depressed individual that has been hounded by the police and media. In essence he was proven guilty before any trial was afforded him. It could also be alleged with the same amount of credibility that his wife abandoned her children and is now living with another man.
Just because a pervert said she ran off doesn't make it so. Interesting you would believe a kiddie porn watcher. You can relate I guess, sad there are sickos like you in the world.
What happened to you to make you so judgmental? I will pray that God Softens your hardened heart
I will pray God takes the hate of women out of your heart. You choose to disregard the fact that the grandpa has porn on his computer, that dad has disturbing things on his computer and is ordered to undergo psycho sexual evaluation, that dad's alibi is he went camping at midnight in the middle of a snowstorm with two very young children at the exact time mom supposedly ran off with someone and up until then was a devoted mother that one child said mommy was in the trunk. Yeah I guess I am judgmental against two cowards and those who would defend them.
Art.. just.. I don't know what to say to you.......
Roxy Lu all I can tell you is If you truly needed help, I would be a person that you could count on. And I don't even know you ( and that goes for gramgigi too)
I'd sooner look a pit bull in the face than someone as twisted as you.
Art - if it walks like a duck....
Most women murders/disappearances are linked to their significant others, so again odds are....
Josh Powell's FATHER is the probable cause of Susan's disappearance. The PERVERT probably raped her so that psycho Josh blamed HER for being raped by that piece of scum. So Josh, who is a total sociopath, heard his father calling Susan a tramp that seduced daddy, got enraged and forced her into his trunk and drove the car into the middle of nowhere. There he snatched her out of the trunk, dragged her off and probably crushed her skull with a rock or some other object. Coyotes probably ate her remains and spread them so they won't be found.
Now it's time to put some pressure on the pervert and FORCE him to talk. He has to know what happened. Josh Powell was nothing but a baby and daddy's little boy. He would have sought his daddy's approval for what he had done.
Why hasn't an inmate seriously mangled that pervert in prison? He's just the type of guy that inmates can't stand.
May Josh Powell burn in hell for eternity! God rest the souls of those precious little boys and Susan Cox(Powell).
Ultimately the police are responsible and have completely bungled this case and allowed this cowardly murderer to die without paying for his crimes.