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Al Hartmann / The Salt Lake Tribune file
Michael Powell, facing camera, locks a gate after becoming concerned about Michael Peterson, a former friend of Joshua and Susan Powell who showed up at the West Valley City home on Jan. 6, 2010, to collect a playgound set he gave the Powell children to use.
The brother of Josh Powell, the Utah man who killed his two young sons and himself in an intentionally set house fire about a year ago, has committed suicide, according to police.
Michael Powell, 30, jumped from a seven-story parking ramp near his home in downtown Minneapolis around 2:25 p.m. on Monday, the Salt Lake Tribune reported. He died on impact.
Four people apparently witnessed the fall, a police report said, and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office confirmed Powell’s death.
Michael Powell was a doctoral degree candidate in cognitive science at the University of Minnesota, the Tribune reported.
He was a fervent defender of his brother, Josh, who murdered his sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, with a hatchet and then lit a match to a can of gasoline in a rented house near Puyallup, Wash., on Feb. 5, 2012. The house exploded within moments, killing all three.
Days before the explosion, Powell had been denied custody of the children and ordered to undergo a psychosexual evaluation after police discovered hundreds of images of disturbing cartoon sex and graphic depictions of incest on his home computer.
At the time, he was the only person of interest in his wife’s disappearance. In December 2009, Susan Powell, 28, went missing in Utah, where the family lived. Powell had told police that she had run away from their family during a midnight camping trip.
Powell had also been in a legal battle in U.S. District Court for Western Washington with Susan’s parents Chuck and Judy Cox over $1.5 million in insurance policies issued to the family.
Several months before his death, Powell changed his insurance policy to list Michael as the primary beneficiary rather than Susan. Michael was to receive a 93 percent share, and if Michael died, the insurance payout would be split evenly between his sister and father. Powell also made Michael the second beneficiary on his sons' insurance policies.
Michael Powell also fiercely defended their father, Steve Powell, who was convicted in May 2012 of 14 counts of voyeurism for surreptitious photographs he took of two girls who lived near his home in Puyallup. Powell said he believed the charges against his father, is scheduled to be released in May, had been fabricated.
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It's probably all for the best that no one else from that gene pool will be breeding.
What a sad and despicable family. Still feel terrible for those two poor little innocent boys....and their mother.
I think that grandfather messed up his own sons and as a consequence those little boys and daughter in law died.
If only that parking ramp had been limited to 6 stories, Michael Powell might still be alive. Universal background checks before accessing such facilities may also have prevented this senseless death.
It seems as though mental illness runs in the Powell family.The Grandfather who is in prison no doubt abused his sons which could of also caused their unstable thinking.
He said he was going to make a big splash one day...
This family was messed up, all of them. Too bad they didn't seek help while they had the chance. Instead they blamed the rest of the world.
This is one messed-up family.
The only thing wrong with this family's gene pool is the s gene. satan
Lovely family.
Thank you Jessica!! Took the words right out of my mouth!! I guess some people just cannot figure out anything without charts, diagrams and a video!
That being said the Powells were one messed up family!
How you could ever defend either one of those pathetic excuses for a human being is beyond me. You want to go kill yourself? Fine, go do it. But you NEVER harm your children like this POS did.
The four witnesses said..."yep...he jumped"
What a lovely family
I always knew the cartoon sex porn watchers were freaks. And what kind of sicko looks at incest stuff? Friggin' disgusting!
Wow, "doctoral degree candidate in cognitive science at the University of Minnesota" and lacked the common sense reasoning to see that no one planted several hundred covertly taken sexual pictures, on his father's computer.
The nut does not fall far from the tree. A family of nuts. Sorry about the children, so sad.
I doubt daddy Powell will shed one bloody tear. That psychopath set this trainwreck in motion. He needs to be locked up in a zoo and studied for the rest of his days.
What a bunch of nuts in this family... At least they jsut killed themselves and that is probably a good thing for the rest of us.
Did the brother kill Susan?
This family is the face of evil, now if the pervert will follow in the steps of his disgusting sons the world will be better off. There is most likely so much abuse that will never be known. This whole miserable family knows what happened to Susan and I don't expect the monster thats left to tell. just a matter of time before his deviant behavior gets him put back behind bars unless he offs himself too.
Some peolple need to drain their gene pool.
Fine American family. Nothing wrong there.
he jumped. and then there were witnesses. are we really that stupid that we have to ask all these questions? so sad and sadistic for that family. prayers to the survivors.
Why couldn't he admit his family is crazy? My family is crazy and I don't have trouble admitting to it, not this crazy though.
he jumped. then witnesses saw him fall. are we really that stupid that we have to ask these questions? prayers to the survivors of this tragedy. and God forgive the father. if all that is stated about him is true, he is one sick man.