Josh Powell, Sons Die in House Explosion

By Newsroom America Staff at 6 Feb 2012

(Newsroom America) -- The husband of a missing Utah woman and her two sons died in a fiery explosion at their home in Washington state Sunday evening, in what authorities are calling a murder-suicide.

Authorities say Josh Powell killed himself and his two young sons, seven-year-old Charles and five-year-old Braden, after blowing up their home.

"This wasn't an accident," Ed Troyer, of the Pierce County Sheriff's Department, said. "This was Josh Powell, who we believe killed his kids and himself ... dead in the fire."

About 10 minutes before the fire, reports said, Powell sent an email to his attorney that read, "I'm sorry. Goodbye." Minutes later, after his children were dropped off by a social worker, the house exploded.

"He grabbed the kids, locked her out of the house, and immediately, the house went up in flames. ... We believe that the house fire went up so fast that accelerants were used," said Troyner.

Powell had been involved in a bitter custody fight with the children's grandparents. Just week, a Washington judge denied Powell custody of his two sons and ordered him to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation after child pornography was found on his father's computer.

Powell's fitness as a father has been in question since the disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox Powell, from their Utah home in December, 2009. Josh Powell was never charged in connection with her disappearance during a family camping trip; she has never been found.

An attorney for the Cox family said the oldest child had begun to open up a bit about the day his mother disappeared.

"They had gone camping. Their mother had been in the trunk and later, their mom and dad walked out into the desert and mommy got lost," said the attorney, Steve Downing.

Newsroom America Twitter Feed