Powell and his father were just horrible sick people.

.

The truth is Josh Powell had made up his mind and he was determined to kill his two sons, no matter where the visitation took place. Actually it may have saved others from harm -- the death doll could be higher if Josh Powell was forced to execute his plan in a public place, he may have taken more lives with him.

Hmmm... I agree with you about supervised visits. An ideal place would be in a courthouse - where those who enter are screened for weapons. Most courthouses have a snack bar, and places to sit.

More likely than not, there will be new legislation in the State of Washington, and other states, to try to remedy this type of situation.

The court ordered psychosexual evaluation was the final straw. This criminal KNEW what would happen with that evaluation, and that he would lose permanent custody. So, he took matters into his own hands, and unfortunately dealt with it his way. I find it hard to believe that a real father would kill his own boys.

What is done is done - but there are lessons to be learned. One thing for sure, I will bet the dispatcher at 911 gets a retraining, or a rotation to another type of job. Waiting 7 minutes prior to dispatching that call to sheriff and fire, was totally unacceptable. It is always better to dispatch immediately, rather than wait. No one in police or fire services gets upset if the call has to be cancelled. It happens every day and it is part of the job. Still, it is better for them to show up, and "clear the call," so to speak.

Powell was pure EVIL.

Some do not believe in Evil; it is infrequent, but this character personified this description.

Did he have incestuous relationships with his boys?

He should of just blown himself to bits. Someone else who had the chance, knowing his persona, would.

Hoping the maternal family, and Case Worker are getting good counseling.

If the possession of a cartoon or computer animation of an incestuous relationship is ground for a court ordered psychiatric evaluation, then those who possess Hollywood movies, "Spanking the Monkey," Luna,' and etc, about incestuous relationships should be committed to mental institutions. (Note that these two movies are available for purchase on Amazon.com.) While computer generated movie is a pure graphic, the others are dramatized by real actors and actresses rendering much more realism. And what should the courts do about provocative literatures that delve into and even promote incest. Should the courts have all such writers arrested and subjected to psychiatric examination, too?

Should the courts have all such writers arrested and subjected to psychiatric examination, too?

If it involves children, yes.

I certainly hope that the State of Washington will provide this social services employee all of the mental health support and therapy she is going to need, for as long as she needs it.

This poor women is going to relive the events of that day over and over and over, and wonder what she could have done differently to protect those children (nothing, of course).

Josh Powell = PURE EVIL! A despicable and sick POS that any person with even the most mild sense of justice would have liked to eliminate from existence before he perpetrated such a monstrous act on two beautiful children. It breaks my heart to know what these kids went through.

Regarding all of the righteous banter demanding the heads of anyone other than Josh Powell, maybe it makes these commenters feel better to direct their anger toward someone living because they can no longer go after the perpetrator, but this is generated by anger displacement, to be sure.

So it bears repeating... Josh Powell = PURE EVIL! No one else is responsible for what this a-hole planned and carried out. It sucks that there can be no justice in this case. Unfortunately, terrible things like this happen all of the time, and even more unfortunately, terrible things like this will continue to happen because there are purely evil souls amongst us.

Which brings me to another point... Folks with uncontrollable fear, those with anger displacement, and the self-righteous amongst us are all too quick to relinquish civil liberties in order to cope with the dastardly and cowardly acts of the Josh Powells of the world.

If you objectively ask yourself what can be accomplished by giving police, courts and child protective services greater latitude than they already have, the honest answer is that doing so will yield greater havoc on society. Unchecked power is totalitarian, and no one benefits from the resulting abuse wreaked upon the masses except those wielding the power.

It doesn't make sense to revert to an unjust system in an attempt to undo what, most unfortunately, cannot be undone.

RIP Charlie & Braden

FatCat. Its scary knowing YOU live on the same planet as me!!!

I too believe as you do, our system needs to make changes. Supervised visits in any area other than the residence of the parent because such could happen and did happen. I pray that God will hold their little souls close and that they didn't suffer. They will remain in my prayers, may God rest their little souls.

Get a grip Olias. this isn't about race. It's about 2 dead boys no one could save. You're a troll and need to go back to the bridge you crawled from.

The judge dropped the ball big time in this case by allowing visitation in the dad's home who had a computer full of parent-child incest pictures. Supervised visits by a defenseless woman in Josh's home is like putting a bandaid on a cancer!

FatCatGets$700Bil,

Get help. You are not normal.

Again I must ask why in the **** were these children handed to this sociopath?

Why is it when a "good mormon" or a "good Christian" does something good everyone claims that it was their faith in "god" that brought about the charitable act, but when they do something bad nothing at all gets mentioned about their imaginary friend's affect on their decision to commit a horrible crime?

Mike's post is collapsed, but his point is correct. People need to look out more, and ask questions without being intrusive boors. Not intruding does not mean turning your brain off to others.

Fatcat, In answer to your question yes they should have their heads examined! It is not normal and if you think it is I can only hope to God that you don't have an children now or ever. Actually you should never be allowed near any child. Obviously this man killed his wife, the mother of his kids, watched porn and incestious acts, attacked his kids with an ax, and let them burn to death, and you sit there and defend this vicious, vile, and evil monster. OMG! You are no better than he is and society doesn't evil people. The only good thing to come of this is that the devil is having his say with this monster.

Olias, again making rational statements.

The content of his remarks have been, and are disgusting.

In Texas you can have supervised visits at a neutral location or a secure location. The standard is supervised visits in a neutral setting but the custodial parent or legal guardian has to be an advocate for the child and request supervised visits in a secure location. This usually takes place at a jail facility with metal detectors. Also, even though an ad litem is assigned to be the advocate for the child they are by no means experts on knowing what is best for the child. I hope this case brings this issue to light; volatile individuals who are granted supervised visits should be carried out at secure locations.

In regard to the state social worker, I don't think she would have been able to prevent this tragedy but I do think it should be mandatory for social workers to have their cell phones with them at all times while supervising visitation.

The state psychologist changed his previous recommendation of allowing the children to return to Josh Powell only after learning about the material found on Powell's computer. I think most people could see that Josh was deeply disturbed prior to murdering his children and I wonder how much time the state psychologist actually spent evaluating Josh prior to making his original recommendation.

Hopefully, the courts will learn from this case.

I pray to God that Fatcat has no children.

I think what fatcat is saying (in a terrible way) is that the pictures he had on his computer had little to no connection with the act he did on his kid. That viewing something like that does not make you do that. Fatcat in many ways is right, this article is using this small fact that has little to no bearing on the true evil of this psychopath.

We have a country full of men who are addicted to pornography, like it or not, and very few of those men ever do anything to harm anyone (outside of themselves) or act out any of the things that they are viewing. And if you don't think that porn addictions lead to viewing these types of images then you are naive. Porn addicts who get treatment almost always report viewing more and more depraved things to get the same reactions as when they began viewing porn...the vast majority of these things are things that the men did not think of on their own and have no urge to do or even fantasize of doing in real life.

The mention of this small and inconsequential fact in this story is sensationalism by the media, as there is no direct connection between those images and what was done.

This man was evil, this was an unfortunate and terrible event. Those images are immoral, and abhorantly wrong, but that immorality does not lead directly to what happened. This man's evil goes so far beyond watching some animated incestual movie. A good commonality would be the Japanese....their adult films are almost entirely rape related, is there that high of a rate of rape? It is higher here and in Europe where these films are much less commonplace. What I'm saying is that what is seen does not always relate to what is done.....I'm not condoning, but call a spade a spade. Watching an immoral annimated movie is not the same as doing the actions depicted. And certainly is not the same as murdering your children.

fatcat is wrong, but he almost makes a good point. we are kind of obsessive about pornography in this country. at the same time, miley cyrus did stripper routines at her concerts, yet was promoted and featured constantly by disney. it's bizarre. but that being said, THAT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH JOSH POWELL!! the guy is depraved! there's a difference between purchasing widely available, legal content (like spanking the monkey) and making your own with your real children. for crying out loud, that difference should be obvious to anyone with two neurons to rub together.

FatCatGets$700Bil,

Get help. You are not normal.

So the courts knew this? If so, this man should have never had contact with his children.

We're going backwards in this country so nothing surprises me anymore.

I think what fatcat is saying (in a terrible way) is that the pictures he had on his computer had little to no connection with the act he did on his kid. That viewing something like that does not make you do that. Fatcat in many ways is right, this article is using this small fact that has little to no bearing on the true evil of this psychopath.

I'm with you here actually, I just don't think fatcat used enough waiver statements to make it clear what he was meaning... especially among a aquarium full of piranha like Newsvine waiting to flame anyone for anything.

He makes a good point... I remember an ol' 70's adult movie called Taboo, starring none other than Pete North and K. Parker... industry standards and quite famous at that time (Pete North still is pretty famous) - that portrayed simulated incestuous scenes. Now the people involved were not underage nor were they depicted as underage... they were still 'relatives'. The animated movie he has doesn't necessarily make it clear if it's a 'child' literally or a child as in a son or daughter. Both are sick relationships, but one is particularly more despicable and indicative of serious psychological trauma than the other.

Now this is just my opinion and you can take for what it is worth. I think we are missing a large part of this and it take a moment to understand this sorrid story. We have to start with Powells father who is in jail for having child pornography on his computer. Add to that what we now know is Powell had sex with children graphics on a computer he formally used. This scenario while morbid may be the answer to all of the questions of why this happened. !. Powell was baused by his father. 2. Those traits were instilled in him because of the abuse he suffered. 3 He acted on them or fought the urge to do so resulting in mental anguish. 4. Possibly his wife either caught him in the act of abuse or caught him in the act of viewing said pornography. 5. Possibly he eliminated her because of this. 6. Perves become really attached to their victims and view them as slaves and are really out of it if they are taken away. This man has been described as narcacisistic and that along with the alleged guilt pushed him over the edge. Possibly he could have had in his mind that killing his spawn would stop the string of perversions also. We may never know and I myself cannot understand how anyone can be sexually attracted to children but this id=s one of the reasons I firmly believe this perversion is almost impossible to cure. Dont believe me then watch the TV show where they trap some of the perves and see them return even though they almost are sure it is a trap.

breadex -

This is the best, most cogent post for me personally of all of them. I was abused by my father who was abused by priests in the Catholic Church. He obviously became sexualized towards children because of the trauma he endured as a child, which froze him sexually at that age. Based on other stories, I know he abused some of my siblings also. Because of this I never wanted to have a child because I knew my father would have gone after it as well.

The minute I heard Powell's father had been arrested, I knew he had probably abused Josh, and that the whole thing was now being handed down to the two boys. So many steps were missed in caring for those two innocent boys, and I keep crying periodically throughout the day, because I know firsthand the psychological torture that was involved in keeping them quiet. He may even have told them that the same thing that happened to mommy would happen to them if they ever said anything. I try to take comfort in the thought that they are now safer than they ever were in real life, but it is so hard to believe what they had to endure to gain that peace.

When will we as a society take responsibility for the fact that we have an epidemic of child abuse that is ravaging our country, and give the children the benefit of the doubt when they don't want to be around someone? I was never believed, so even when I ran away it was because I was a BAD child, not because my father was very, very sick and I wanted to escape from him. My mother turned a blind eye even to medical evidence, so all I could do was wait out my sentence until I was old enough to leave for good.

I wish I could have saved those boys since I could never have saved myself, and I feel both anger and sadness at the pain and regret the social worker and the dispatcher will have to deal with for the rest of their lives. Rest in Peace Braden and Charlie - you are greatly loved.

It is heartbreaking and gut wrenching, Katheryn.

There have been several articles on this heinous event here this week and on one of the articles, this same photo ran. As another poster pointed out, the picture should have been removed. He did not deserve to be shown with these innocents that he murdered.

I agreed with her then and also agree now. MSNBC, could we please just have a photo of the children with anyone but their killer???

hear,hear Chefaz!

the picture should have been removed. He did not deserve to be shown with these innocents that he murdered.

To me, the picture is appropriate - it puts Josh Powell's betrayal of his sons into an even harsher light, if that's possible. It's a good reminder that monsters don't always look like monsters, and even those closest to them don't always know until it's too late.

I totally agree with Arnold. See it for what it is.

Yeah -I hadn't thought about it that way,Arnold. Good reminder

Arnold, I can definitely see your point and it is a good one and to some degree I concur. On the other hand, we've had plenty of publicity for the last two years on this family. I do respect your position on this but I'm going to stand by my post.

I hadn't been following this story until the horrible final episode, so I haven't seen the publicity.

I certainly do understand the feeling that pictures like this somehow memorialize Josh Powell, along with the boys, but, for me, seeing those two little boys laughing and snuggling up with the man who will murder them with a hatchet is poignant, sad, and disturbing.

And we ought to feel sad and disturbed, besides being angry and outraged.

Paul that is due to one being considered a "cult" and the other being considered a mainstream "religion", even though there is very little difference between the LDS and the FLDS church. And just as in the Catholic Church, the LDS hierarchy protects pedophiles by sweeping domestic violence and abuse cases under the rug. You can't appear to be a benefit to the community if you have just as many or more abusers as the non-religious population. But many people turn to religion because of those dark, perverted, violent desires that well up inside of humans form time to time. They feel that evil is overtaking them and they reach out for religion to save them from themselves, that's why cults and mainstream religions have a higher number of child molestation than do other sections of the population. It's not that religion breeds molesters, it's that many molesters fear that side of themselves and reach out for God to save them.

Oh an about his computer........ his wife had been missing and presumed dead since December 2009, they considered him a suspect and would have confiscated his computer to search for clues.

Calling someonean idiot because you disagree with their statement is a sure way to get banned, the FLDS has as much to do with the LDS religion as Evangelicals have to do with the Christian, lol, maybe that wasn't a good example because truly the Evangelicals have very little to do with the Christian religion, but you get my point, one is just an off shoot of the other, what divides their belief system are a few small details, otherwise they believe the same thing.

This case is a fine example of why the police get so frustrated with judges. So many judges have proven they are idiots without common sense. Don't tell me it's the law, the judge could have made visitation safe for those children. Judge is probably saying to everyone who asks: "I suspected he did kill his wife, but I never imagined he could kill his own children. After all, that almost never happens!"

Doug - you don't know what you're talking about. The LDS Church never protects pedophiles or anyone who is breaking the law. The official policy is that they involve the police as soon as something is found out by those in authority. There may be members who break the law, but the church always begins the process with authorities if they aren't already involved.

On the topic of the FLDS, I don't know if there even is such a "church" since there so many little groups who more or less do their own thing. It isn't an organization, but different groups who refer to themselves as FLDS. To compare the LDS church to them doesn't really make any sense, unless you're going to specify WHICH group you're talking about.

Good point. Especially considering the father had his own creepy problems.

He might've been molested by his own father. I don't know what that does to a boy. The father is still alive. Let's find out. It won't bring anyone back from the dead, but knowing the truth will perhaps help us in figuring out what to do if a case like this happens again...and it will.

Steven Powell, Josh's father is in jail since last September when authorities found child porn, videos of women and children (including daughter in law Susan!) in bathroom, bedroom private moments.

Steven has 14 counts of voyeurism and will go to trial in the spring. He's a real odd duck, piece of crAp to have done this to his family. Most of his children are estranged for him and some from one another.

Sick-sick family.

Childhood sexual abuse destroys lives.

Google Bill Zeller suicide letter.

It does and it destroys more than just the lives of the victims. It also offers destruction to the whole family unit and this destruction can last a lifetime. It is why I encourage the stiffest possible penalties, including the death penalty, in these situations. Again, we have political campaigning going on in the country and unless I've missed it, have yet to hear any of these candidates discussing these issues.

Who cares what his father did to him? He made his own choices when he became an adult. Not another excuse or "explanation" for his behavior.

Al041009 and chefaz,

I understand the idea that CSA destroys lives, and for some that is very true; however please do not paint with such a broad brush. Many of us receive the help that we need and go one to lead very happy, healthy, productive lives. Our CSA is never forgotten, of course, but it no longer affects everything that we do. Everyone has things in their past that helps to mold their personality as they grow and some have abuse - physical, psychological, sexual, emotional and often the worst - neglect. You are right in that it does not just affect the survivor but also families. Husbands and wives of survivors who have not healed yet have a tough time of it.

Please do not hear that I am minimizing CSA. It is damaging and horrifying, but it does not need to destroy lives. To me the word destroy denotes a condition that is immutable and that is not the case. That kind of broad thinking keeps survivors as victims in the eyes of the world. We are very strong, empathetic, caring, loving, intelligent survivors. We are much stronger than our abusers who were weak and pathetic, and who needed to get their self-worth out torturing innocent children.

CSA can and does destroy the lives of some survivors and that breaks my heart, but many of us heal from our wounds and are doing just fine. It would be wonderful if everyone could afford therapy and that it was made available to all of us, but that is just not the case. Many suffer in silence because we are often blamed by society. That seems implausible to many, but it happens far more often than you would think. I am a college educated professional with a wonderfully loving family and I do not share my story with many. You would be amazed how often people insinuate that there was something that I could have done while being raped at the age of six. That is enough to keep many silent. That just illustrates the ignorance of many people on the subject. When I believe that my experience will help another, however, I do not hesitate to speak out. No one will take my voice again.

Episcopalian, thank you for sharing your story on this, God bless you for your strength to persevere, and wanting to help others.

It's always difficult to try to make broad-reaching categorical statements on human behavior. Everyone deals with things differently. I think it is certainly true that many lives are destroyed by CSA, and many people also find the strength to make good from evil. Same thing with children from alcoholic and/or physical abuse homes. Sadly, many will repeat the abuse cycle. These are very complex psychological issues.

This guy, Josh Powell, was a sick dog, and in a functional society should have been put down/away like a sick dog. My vote would be incarceration for life, no cable TV, etc... I realize that he probably suffered from some sort of horrible abuse when he was a child, most people are not 'hatched' that way. Too many of these monsters spend their lives hurting other innocent people in an sad attempt to make themselves feel better inside, or just recreate their "normal." They need help, and if they don't respond to help, they need to be put away somewhere where they can't harm any more innocent people. Our society has too much tolerance for people harming others (just don't take money from the government...!). Josh Powell would have been popular in prison...

I haven't read where there was any evidence Powell abused his own children...though with the discovery of the porno it certainly seems possible. Perhaps his statement inferring his reason for killing his own children was a diversion from his real motives...among which could be they wouldn't grow up remembering their abuse at their father's hand...just a thought.

@Episcopalian, I'm glad to hear that you have recovered. However, most of us do not. Most of us simply learn how to get along, but we never, ever trust again. Part of the problem is exactly as you state. You'd be shocked at how many people will blame the child for breaking up the family because you had the courage to speak up. Can you imagine.

I also think that the spouses, who often turn a blind eye to what's going on in the home for the sake of comfort, should be held accountable for the harm inflicted on the children. How many cases have we seen where the mother claims not to know anything. I don't buy it. In this case, I can only assume that the wife found out what a sick POS she was married to and wanted to get herself and the children away. That is exactly what a mother should do. Unfortunately, many do not, and in this case, it most likely was the cause of her death.

When my sons were small, I used to stand over them and watch them sleep. So peaceful. So relaxed. I would wonder, how a parent could EVER conjure up such thoughts about their children. To this day, I could never sleep like that for fear of being, shall we say, disturbed in my sleep. To this day, I'm still on guard at all times.

It takes a village to raise a child. Every human has an inner warning signal -- listen to it. Be watchful. Keep an eye on children. Trust your gut. ALWAYS listen to what your children have to say -- AND BELIEVE THEM. Trust no one - especially, relatives.

I remember my oldest, when he was around 10, I would not agree to let him go spend the night at his Aunt's house. I never told his Aunt how to live her life, but I did not approve of how she let her boyfriends around her children. My son was very angry with me and stayed resentful for many years. Finally, just before he went off to the Army, he told me, "Mom, the family thinks you're crazy and they don't like how you've kept us away from them." I told him, "You and your brother are safe, and that's all I care about." It turns out that the very Aunt whose house I would not let them sleep over had a home-grown molestor -- her son. He has molested 3 children that we know of in the family --- and his mother and grandmother think the children are lying.

I feel vindicated, and most importantly, my sons thanked me for keeping them safe.

Kat,

I'm so sorry to hear that you too are a survivor of this evil. Good for you for being so vigilant with your sons. I am the same way with my daughter. It is difficult sometimes to make sure that they have a normal life and are not paranoid while having an understanding of how easily this can happen to them.

I know what you mean by struggling to trust again. That remains an issue with me although it has gotten better as I have walked the path of healing. I don't know that recovered is an accurate way to describe my, but the hold that CSA had on me for 35 years has definitely diminished. I kept silent for 32 years of that and I still see a therapist weekly. I work on my recovery still, but it no longer controls me, my thought patterns, my emotional state, or my behaviors (make no mistake - I still have bad days). Of course, like everyone's childhood - good and bad - we are all shaped by our experiences.

You are also correct that spouses who turn a blind eye are just as guilty - I think more so in many cases. Often they are victims of the abuse themselves unfortunately, and there are so few resources for women to turn to for help. When you are repeatedly threatened that you and your kids will be killed if you leave, and you have no means of support and no one to turn to, it does make escaping the horror difficult. I have talked with many survivors whose mothers took as much abuse as possible for them because they could not escape. I'm not saying that they do not have a responsibility to protect their children, but it's not always as easy as people think it is. It's the ones that have the ability to walk away and continue to live in denial that make my blood boil - there are far too many of them as well.

I hope that one day you will make peace with the pain inside of you. It will always be a struggle, but there is life after CSA. It never completely goes away, but it can get better. I wish you all the best.

Episcopalian, thank you for your kind words. I can tell that you are a person who has walked the walk and fully understands what this does to a person's soul.

I do understand, fully, how some women think it's impossible to escape an abuser. Our system has failed, miserably, in helping these women escape the abuse and protect the innocent children. But these aren't the women I'm talking about. I'm talking about those who for the sake of comfort, abandon all maternal instincts and place their own survival and comfort above that of their children.

I'm not very religious, but I do believe there is something somewhere. I don't know that, as bad as it was (and it was pretty bad), it could have been a lot worse. I do as much as I can for charity and other victims of CSA. And to tell you the truth, it helps me more than it helps them.

Bless you and your family, and always be the strong protector that your little girl need you to be. She'll thank you for it -- trust me on that. And I can tell you that there is NOTHING more healing than when your child turns to you and says, "Thank you."

An Episcopalian and kat, both of you are very courageous women. There is little that I can add to all that's been written here but wanted to acknowledge An Episcopalian since post 4.6 was addressed to me as well as AI041009. GOD Bless both of you.

To be honest, I'm not sure why this detail is even being reported on. Simulated images of incest aren't illegal nor even that rare. There are commercial porn websites dealing with that type of material openly. No kids harmed? No foul. We can't go around prosecuting people for mind crimes.

Brings to mind the story of Brian Dalton, who was thrown in jail several years ago for having a journal in which he wrote out detailed fantasies of sex with kids. He wrote the journal at the urging of his therapist as a safe outlet for his compulsions and he was charged for crimes "involving a minor" where the minor was a fictional character in his stories.

@Alan, you used to be one of my favorite posters. That book that POS wrote was a "how to" book for having sex with children.

Pedophilia, is a progressive disease. Like serial killers they start out with images. Then they move on to cartoons. Soon, that's not enough so they move onto warm bodies. In either case, it feeds the sickness. Now, there is nothing we can do about such graphic images or the porn sites dedicated to this sickness. However, we can and must do whatever we can to prevent our children from falling prey to these warped sexual fantasies.

Think about it, Alan. Why would you want to watch adults having sex with children -- even if they are cartoons? What is appealing about that? I totally disagree that it is a safe outlet. It feeds it. Instead of feeding that sickness until you can't control the impulse, get some help. When I watch porn -- all I get is horny.

Not all therapists know what they're doing. Some of them are as sick as their patients. I know. That's almost like saying if want to cure an alcoholic, go get some alcohol. Makes no sense to me.

Kat, I'm not referring to that book. I know what you're speaking of, but the Dalton case was about a private journal that was written and stored in his own home at the urging of his therapist, and never shared with others. Instead of a how-to book, it was accounts of fantasies in his mind. He had reported that it had really tamed his urges and was a cathartic process for him. The book you're speaking of was released on, then pulled from, Amazon.

Don't get me wrong, I understand the ick factor and I understand that some people have different opinions on how they think pedophilia works (the research is minimal and has mixed results, suggesting that each individual is different). However, we can't go throwing people in jail for viewing a completely simulated picture or video in which there were no victims. We see gun violence on television every day and sometimes we even root for the violent vigilante (and perhaps even wish we could be so brave), but we shouldn't be jailed for this. The comparisons seem wildly incompatible on an emotional level, but if we start jailing people for their fantasies, we're going to need a lot more prisons.

I do want to thank you for your combination of honesty and class. I've noticed that the emotional and personal attack posts have been increasing around here lately and it's nice when you can disagree with someone without accusing them of being a pedophile.

Where did you get all these graphic details? Were they published already? Thanks.

I live in the area - we've had non-stop coverage of this horrible thing.

The judge told Josh he has to undergo psycho-sexual evaluation by a Psych. If he didn't do it he automatically forfitted his kids. If he did the eval, they would find out about his proclivity and he wouldn't get his children returned. To my way of thinking the judge painted Josh into a corner. It was a lose-lose for Josh. Not that that excuses him in any way!

Did they ever find out why Josh threatened his mother with a kitchen knife when he was a teen? Any explanation why he had such violent outbursts as a teen? Where has his mother been the last couple of years? Are his parents divorced? One of his sisters also seems to be very delusional (the sister that he called to say goodbye). That whole family is such a mess. Extremely dysfunctional. And his father is as twisted and sick and perverted as he can be. Oh Mercy!!! I feel so bad for the Cox family.

I agree the judge painted him into a corner. All the more reason why the judge should have foreseen that this creep would do something drastic. He was already suspected in Susan's disappearance. The visits should have been halted until the exam was completed.

Josh's parents have been divorced since mid-1990's, Josh tried to hang himself in 1989. He apparently was asked by his mother to do the dishes which provoked the knife incident. He was a very troubled boy and probably young man. Josh's dad Steven was a controling man and mother says he destroyed their family. Mother won't comment on the events.

To make matters worse the Westboro Baptist (terrorists) plan to picket at the boy's funeral to protest the fact that WA just passed a gay marriage bill. Westboro says the boys being killed is God's way of telling our governor that gay marriage is bad.

Sick on Sick.

Thanks, Suzq, for the info regarding the Powell family background. It is very disturbing. Josh's mother was probably right that Steve Powell destroyed the whole family. I suspect there was much more than him just being "very controlling".

For those crazy Westboro Baptist protesters, just ignore them. I wonder who is funding all their activities -- travelling, lodging, etc etc. Where do they get all the money? Don't they have to work for a living? Do they actually have a church which supports these sickos to travel all over the place and disgrace themselves? What a crazy world we are living in!!!

A damn shame his suicide attempt failed !!

Hopefully, there will be an outpouring of community that will keep the westie monsters as far away from the funeral as possible. The westies could care less about this tragedy except that it has been all over the news and will provide more exposure for them. I have no idea why they need more exposure. The entire world knows them as degenerate sickos.

I'll probably take some heat for this, but to all those calling for the judge's head (or the social worker's, or the police's) consider that Powell was never charged. We all "knew" he did it and his story was preposterous, but the police apparently didn't have enough evidence to charge him.

Considering that, I think it's amazing that the judge was even able to remove the children from the household. To take the children and then deny visitation on only suspicion would not be justice. Setting a precedent that your children can be taken without evidence of a crime would be extremely unfair. We have a system that protects the accused because we need it; it's a bedrock American principle. The system did the best it could in this case.

That didn't do these children any good and the end result was horrific, but don't blame the system, blame this man for his actions.

Westboro Baptist is Baptist in name only as they were removed from the Baptist organization. They are a small church who's members are primarily family and extended family, most of whom (including the minister/founder) are wealthy.

David, I think you just gave me an excellent idea concerning the Westboro freaks. Lets find out where their money is coming from and boycott those individuals/businesses who financially support them. I'll bet their "activities" would come to a screeching halt if their money supply was drained. I know we can't find out legally who is donating because they will hide behind their "Church" status to protect that, but I bet locals in their hometown will know.

Anyone calling themselves a Church and would desecrate these two children's funerals along with our military heroes deaths deserve nothing less.

If I remember, their money comes primarily from lawsuits. Any time someone interferes with their extremely offensive yet legal activities, the Westboro creeps sue the crap out of them. That has made them a great deal of money.

correct david, and if im correct most of them are educated as lawyers, most of thier wealth comes from lawsuits won over the years.

Josh Powell = PURE EVIL! A despicable and sick POS that any person with even the most mild sense of justice would have like to eliminate from existence before he perpetrated such a monstrous act on two beautiful children. It breaks my heart to know what these kids went through.

Regarding all of the righteous banter demanding the heads of anyone other than Josh Powell, maybe it makes these commenters feel better to direct their anger toward someone living because they can no longer go after the perpetrator, but this is generated by anger displacement, to be sure.

So it bears repeating... Josh Powell = PURE EVIL! No one else is responsible for what this a-hole planned and carried out.

Which brings me to another point... Folks with uncontrollable fear, those with anger displacement, and the self-righteous amongst us are all too quick to relinquish civil liberties in order to cope with the dastardly and cowardly acts of the Josh Powells of the world.

If you objectively ask yourself what can be accomplished by giving police, courts and child protective services greater latitude than they already have, the honest answer is that doing so will yield greater havoc on society. Unchecked power is totalitarian, and no one benefits from the resulting abuse wreaked upon the masses except those wielding the power.

Kevin,

I'm sorry but I take extreme exception to your premise. Police and Judges have no "absolute knowledge" of right and wrong. Most police are there because they like the power not to help, serve or protect. Most judges are there because it is easier than being a lawyer and drumming up business.

It seems to me that you should have also said that we should never question the government because they know what is best for us, better than we know.

This comment may take a lot of heat from others and it in no way is about the story of the children being killed. But to give carte blanc to any group, in my opinion, is just wrong on so many levels. And to strengthen my argument please recall all the allegations against judges and police officers for abuse of power and "finding questionable material" on their computers and in their homes.

I would agree on the punishment, but ALL true sociopaths cannot be captured until they demonstrate such behavior (even though most of them have a documented hx of such behavior via MH and other professional agencies) True sociopaths cannot be sucessfuly tx. via therapy and medications. This hx. of Powel was known by Proffesionals for years and he could have easily been involuntarily commited to WSH ad infitem.

Just want your opinon if you were the case worker who brought the children to his house & got the door slammed in your face. Would you of broke the door down especially with the smell of gasoline with the children inside?

Somebody has to go all out for the children to. He should be frisk before allowing him in the courts designated place of visitation. there needs to be some new laws. do you agree?

Johnessy, you are just begining to chip away at the tip of this huge dysfunctional iceberg. Millions of our (USA) children are being sexually abused EVERY day. Law Enforce Authoritys refuse to take this seriously.

Johnessy, DIDO and the media needs to expose this to the public.

claire-mt, who are you talking to?

He shouldn't have been allowed any visits while under murder investigation. That's the key and that's our courts.

Most factless, assumption laden preposterous post I have ever read.

And then we'd have one more dead, unemployed Marine.

A social worker isn't an expert combat warrior or bodyguard or police officer. Social workers in this line of work, with children, are professionals trained to effectively connect and build trusting relationships with kids who are in difficult family/custody times and changes. The social worker is to facilitate visits with the various parents or guardians and OBSERVE the interactions between parent and child so that they can make recommendations to the court or cps about how the kids and parent interact with each other, if they are provided for and looked after properly, etc.

From what we know of this awful story the social worker called 911 immediately - even BEFORE she smelled gas. 911 operator didn't dispatch any police, which is something across the country that needs to be looked at in all sorts of situations that 911 dispatchers often waste valuable and crucial time on the phone arguing with or dismissing the caller's complaints rather than IMMEDIATELY dispatching a police officer to the scene. How many times in different stories we hear the 911 tapes that go on for 4, 5, 6 minutes of the operator repeatedly asking NAME and other stupid information that just takes the caller away from being able to help with whatever situation is happening? I personally think 911 rules throughout the country should be limited to 30 seconds, then the caller should HANG UP and do what they need to do until the police/fire/medics respond. THAT is the purpose of calling 911, to request IMMEDIATE on scene assistance.

My thought is let the police officers who arrive decide whether or not an emergency exists, not the 911 operator who isn't there on scene. BUT, that's besides the point because even if a police officer responded immediately who is to say the result would've been anything different or even a loss of more lives?

Just a horrible evil, sick and heartbreaking loss for the family of those boys and Ms. Powell.

"Fat and weak"? Your comments are shallow, sexist, and foolish. Grow up.

Remy, your comment about 911 calls being limited to 30 seconds and taking issue with Dispatchers asking information of the caller regarding the call, shows your ignorance of how the majority of 911 centers operate. What generally happens is that the dispatchers are doing several things at once. They are receiving the information from the caller, such as nature of the emergency, name of the caller and their phone number, location of the event, etc, while dispatching the appropriate unit(s) to the location. Usually the person calling can't hear this going on in the back ground because the dispatcher is talking on a head set that does not allow the caller to hear what the dispatcher is doing when he or she is not pushing a button to talk. So it often times seems to callers that the heartless Dispatcher is just asking trivial information to pass the time, but in reality the dispatcher or another dispatcher listening to the conversation is in the process of sending help. To suggest that a 30 second phone call would be sufficient to relay an adequate amount of information is ridiculous. Officers / Medics / Firefighters/ depend on the information they are given by the dispatchers, and the more information they can receive before arriving can help them anticipate their actions. It is safer for all involved for the dispatcher to obtain as much information as possible, whether that can be done in 30 seconds or takes 10 minutes.

I realize that in this case the Dispatcher has been castigated for not treating the matter with more urgency and I assume it will likely result in consequences of some type for her and rightfully so. However, if your suggestions on how to fix a system that really isn't as broke as you think it is, somehow got implemented, it would just make things much much worse.

@Leroy -

You are worng! That social worker had years of experience with supervisory duties of children. She had been doing these home visits with the boys and Josh since November and had NEVER observed any indiciation that Josh would harm them. Josh harmed them because he was one of those people who believed "If I can't have them nobody will!" He was sick.

It has nothing to do with the social worker being FAT. Skill and knowledge is what you need in this type of work. You on the other hand, are nuts!

He wasn't "accused" by the legal system, just everybody with a brain.

Well...yeah...common sense always fails. Sadly the kids were the ones who paid the price for America's beaurocratic stupidity. In some cases I think 'guilty until proven innocent' should apply to visitation arrangements of people who are being investigated for serious/violent crimes, better safe than sorry. And before anyone says anything about the 'rights' of the accused, please consider the rights of the children to be protected from potential harm. I'll always be on the side that looks out for kids and not the criminal/suspect.

I think that someone mentioned this possibility on one of the other articles since Josh's father is doing the time for the crime of child porn and who knows what else. Doubtful that the whole truth will ever come to light.

Then get off of the computer and quit reading about it. It's that simple, Joe!