GRAHAM, Wash. - Days after a judge ruled against him in a child custody hearing, a father and his two young sons were killed yesterday when police said he appeared to intentionally blow up a house with all three inside.
It was a tragic ending to a bizarre case that began when the man’s wife mysteriously disappeared in Utah in 2009.
A Child Protective Services worker brought the two boys to Josh Powell’s home for what was to be a supervised visit yesterday, and Powell let his sons inside - but then blocked the social worker from entering, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz said.
The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas, and moments later the home exploded.
Sergeant Ed Troyer, the Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman, said e-mails that Powell sent authorities seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast. Troyer didn’t elaborate on the contents of the e-mails.
Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Powell in the custody case, said he received a three-word e-mail from his client minutes before Powell and the two boys died. It said, “I’m sorry, goodbye.’’
The e-mail arrived at 12:05 p.m. yesterday, about 10 minutes before the explosion, but Bassett didn’t see it until two hours later, when others told him Powell and the boys had been killed. He said he knew Powell was upset after being ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation recently, but he didn’t see this coming.
Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife, Susan, 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.
“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 the custody fight. “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 e-mailed 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.’’
Sergeant Mike Powell of the West Valley City Police Department in Utah, which is handling the investigation into Susan Powell’s disappearance, said it was too soon to say how Josh Powell’s death may affect their inquiry.
“We are in contact with authorities,’’ Mike Powell added. “It’s obviously an ongoing situation in Washington at this point.’’
Kirk Graves, 39, of West Jordan, Utah, Josh Powell’s brother-in-law, said he and his wife, Jennifer, were stunned by the news. (Jennifer Powell Graves is Josh Powell’s sister.)
“It’s a shock. A total complete shock,’’ he said. “We never contemplated the idea he would do something like this. You just don’t expect it from a father.’’
Kirk Graves said he and his wife think Josh Powell deliberately set off the explosion.
“His world was falling apart around him and he was going to lose his boys and get arrested for Susan’s disappearance,’’ he said. “He’s a narcissist and he has no love for anyone but himself.’’