Cops: Josh Powell murder-suicide house was sham set up for social worker visits

The house Josh Powell blew up earlier this month – a cozy residential house near Puyallup, Wash. – was a front, the Tacoma News-Tribune reported.

"He set it up like a rental place, with pictures of the family," Sgt. Denny Wood of the Pierce County Sheriff’s Department said, according to the News-Tribune. "I think it was staged so when CPS (Child Protective Services) came, it would look like a loving family."

Police say that Powell rented it in 2011 but neighbors said they never saw anyone there. When Powell learned he could not keep his children, he rigged the house, turning it into a bomb, authorities have said. On Feb. 5, when his sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, came to visit, he slammed the door in a social worker’s face, slashed the boys with a hatchet and lit a match to a can of gasoline.

The house exploded within moments, killing all three. The social worker was uninjured.

Powell had been in the media spotlight because 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. At the time, Powell told police that she had run away from their family during a midnight camping trip.

On Monday, Wood detailed what police believe occurred on that fateful Sunday: "The little boys come in. He takes them to the back and hits them with the hatchet. Josh Powell scatters gas. He walks around the house, tossing it on the walls and floor. He puts the five-gallon gas can by the front door. He sits with the other can between his knees."

Source http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/14/10410621-cops-josh-powell-murder-suicide-house-was-sham-set-up-for-social-worker-visits

Child welfare officials saw no red flags from Josh Powell

Blogger Note:

The title of this article is the craziest title possible. It's been known to many of us caught up in the CPS Racket that CPS incapable of seeing REAL trouble when there is REAL reasons to suspect a parent my harm their children, now we have a public statement that they were blind to those very things.

CPS - Here's some hints:

When a suspect moves to another state shortly after his wife disappears, the wife is likely dead!

When a parent is suspected of murdering their wife, the suspects children are likely to be in danger!

When children are in CPS custody, it is your job to make sure that they are safe from harm at anyone's hands - including their father, the suspect in his wife's (the children's mother) disappearance and possible murder!

Questions for CPS:

Why were vistis allowed to take place at this suspected murderers home?
Don't you have supervised and monitored visitation facilities in Washington state?
If not - perhaps you should put some in place.

If you couldn't see the red flags in this case (which were waving high and wildly), how are you able to claim anyone may be abusing or neglecting their children or are a danger to their children in some way?
Whatever happened to your so-called risk assessment garbage?
Are you people blind?

#FAIL!
---

By Brooke Adams

Puyallup, Wash. • As Washington authorities revealed new details about how Josh Powell killed himself and his two young sons in his home, a child welfare spokesman on Monday said there were no red flags that would have barred the visit.

One caseworker from Foster Care Resource Network of Tacoma had supervised all of Powell’s visits with his sons Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5. Those visits initially took place at the network’s office and then, beginning in November, at Powell’s home.

"From the children’s administration point of view, Mr. Powell was not accused of any child abuse or neglect," said Thomas Shapley, senior director of public affairs for the Washington Department of Social and Health Services. "There was no indication of threats to the children or any suicide ideation. This caught everybody by surprise."

Chuck and Judy Cox — who received temporary custody of the boys last September — said Monday the system failed their grandsons and needs to be changed. In light of recent events, it would have been appropriate to suspend Powell’s court-ordered supervised visitation, Chuck Cox said.

Powell learned in a Feb. 1 custody hearing he would not get his boys, back until at least July. The judge also ordered him to submit to a psychosexual evaluation and polygraph test regarding sexually explicit images found on a computer in his West Valley City home in 2009.

"I thought visitation should have stopped until they got that sorted out," Chuck Cox told The Salt Lake Tribune. "We were very afraid something like this could happen, as were the social workers and police. There were too many warning signs that were known, but due to the legal limits [the signs] couldn’t be acted on."

Cox added: "It’s sad that visitation was at his house, which allowed him to set up this whole thing."

The boys were removed from Powell’s care after their paternal grandfather, Steve Powell, was arrested on voyeurism and child pornography charges. Prosecutors said they needed to determine what, if anything, Powell knew about his father’s activities. Powell and his sons had lived in Steve Powell’s Puyallup home since 2010.

Shapley said if his department had received any indication the children were in danger or that Powell was unstable, there are protocols the department could have gone through to postpone visits.

There was nothing, he said.

"We were always on course to have the children returned to him," Shapley said. And while a judge here ordered new tests for Powell, there was no interruption in visitation.

"We were proceeding as per court order," Shapley said.

Police have said Powell planned out a gasoline-fueled fire that took his own life and the lives of his sons Sunday as the boys came to his home for supervised visitation. Shapley said the boys ran into the home and Powell locked out the caseworker, who called 911.

Shapley said he agreed with Washington police that if Powell "was intent on committing this heinous crime, it’s hard to imagine how anyone could have stopped him" no matter who was there or where the visit took place.

One national child welfare expert agrees Washington authorities acted appropriately.

"Unless you expect a caseworker to have 20/20 hindsight or the ability to read minds, no, there was no way to see this coming," said Richard Wexler, director of the National Coalition for Child Protection Reform based in Virginia. "If they couldn’t imagine it, I don’t know how the court could."

And while the Coxes had fears about what Powell might do, they never imagined he might act during a supervised visit with his sons.

"I had no idea he would be able to get away with dousing the place. Who possibly would do that? Sure, we were concerned about it, but not to go out that way," said Chuck Cox.

The Coxes had felt okay about visits at Powell’s newly rented home for the sake of the boys.

"Anything that would make them feel better, have a better life, we were for it," Chuck Cox said. "We were just doing everything we could to make them happy and have as normal a life as we could with their mom gone."

Wexler called Sunday’s deaths a tragic anomaly and said the most important lesson to learn is "not to try to learn lessons from horror stories because it will then result in hundreds of kids being kept needlessly away from their parents."

The department is conducting an internal review and will also begin a child fatality review, which must be completed in six months or less, Shapley said.

"We do want to see if there are things that can educate our practice going forward," he said.

Source http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/news/53458296-78/powell-child-shapley-cox.html.csp?page=1

Josh Powell kills 2 young sons in 'an act of evil,' authorities say

Blogger note:
Why didn't the court or CPS order that visitation be at a Visitation Center type facility that is not only supervised but is also monitored rather than allowing the children to go to his home? CPS failed these boys horrifically in this case. They knew that the situation was volatile and that the accusations against the father were of an extreme crime. This whole thing could have been prevented if CPS or the courts would have handled this properly but like most always, they did not.

Josh Powell, who has been implicated in the disappearance of his wife, was killed along with his two sons in a fire Sunday at Powell's home in Graham, Pierce County, authorities said.

By Sara Jean Green and Steve Miletich

GRAHAM, Pierce County — The 2-year-old mystery surrounding the disappearance of Susan Powell might forever lack answers after police said her long-investigated husband, Josh Powell, set his house on fire Sunday afternoon, killing himself and his two young boys moments after a caseworker brought them for a supervised visitation.

"The fire burned hot and it burned fast," said Pierce County sheriff's spokesman Sgt. Ed Troyer, who described the fire as an intentional act that came shortly after Powell sent an email to his attorney apologizing and saying goodbye.

Three bodies, believed to be those of Powell and his sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, were found in the same room in the house, authorities said.

Troyer called the deaths "a double murder-suicide."

"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 said near the house.

Powell, 36, had lost custody of the boys after his father was arrested last year for allegedly possessing child pornography in another house they previously shared. The boys were in the custody of Susan Powell's parents; however, Josh Powell was allowed supervised visitation.

About noon Sunday, Troyer said, the caseworker, a state contract worker from Foster Care Resource Network, brought the boys for a scheduled visit to Powell's house. The caseworker was assigned to the children and had previously brought them to their father without incident, Troyer said.

Powell answered the door, pulled the boys inside, slammed the door and locked it, Troyer said.

Denied entry, the caseworker immediately began banging on the doors and windows and called 911. She told police she thought she smelled gasoline.

The caseworker reported the fire started within seconds, Troyer said.

The first 911 call was at 12:13 p.m., followed by other calls.

Graham Fire and Rescue responded within three minutes, finding the house in flames with no chance to save those inside, Troyer said.

The fire marshal will determine the exact cause of the blaze.

The Pierce County Medical Examiner's Office, which is to perform autopsies Monday, still needs to make positive identifications.

Troyer said Utah authorities might have been preparing criminal charges against Powell in connection with his wife's disappearance in December 2009, but he did not give details.

Buzz Nielson, the police chief in West Valley City, Utah, whose department is investigating the disappearance of Susan Powell, said Sunday night that detectives were pursuing promising new avenues in the case and that he had hoped to seek charges by the end of the year.

"It's a circumstantial one," he said of the case, adding that his investigators had not shared their progress with Josh Powell.

Nielson said he believes Powell was more concerned with civil-court matters, an apparent reference to the child-custody case.

Investigators from West Valley City police will be sent to Washington, said spokesman Sgt. Mike Powell, who is no relation to Josh Powell.

Asked if Josh Powell's death would forever preclude answers to his wife's disappearance, Sgt. Powell said it was important to "emphasize that Josh hasn't been cooperative with our investigation from the very beginning."

The Associated Press reported that Josh Powell's lawyer received an email from him shortly before the fire, saying: "I'm sorry, goodbye."

Attorney Jeffrey Bassett told The Associated Press 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. He says he knew Powell was upset after a judge last week ordered him to undergo a psychosexual evaluation, but he didn't see this coming.

Troyer said email and text messages from Powell's account were sent to a number of people, whom he didn't identify. He said investigators had no reason to doubt that Powell wrote them.

Firefighters were still mopping up the largely gutted house at 8119 189th St. Court E. late into the afternoon Sunday. Authorities began removing the bodies about 5:30 p.m.

Some people reported hearing popping sounds that sounded like gunshots at the time of the fire, while others described the noise as coming from the fire, Troyer said.

While Powell had not been arrested or charged in his wife's disappearance, he had been a person of interest in the case from the start.

Susan Powell, a Puyallup native, was 28 when she was reported missing Dec. 7, 2009. Josh Powell told police he last saw his wife around midnight, when he put their sons in a minivan and took them on a late-night camping trip in Utah's west desert in freezing temperatures.

Powell then moved back to the Puyallup area, where both his father and Susan Powell's parents live.

The boys were removed from Josh Powell's custody Sept. 22, the same day Josh Powell's father, Steven Powell, with whom the three were living, was arrested and charged with possessing child pornography. Temporary custody of the children was awarded by a judge to Susan Powell's parents, Chuck and Judy Cox of Puyallup.

Last week, a judge ordered that the boys remain in the custody of the grandparents.

Josh Powell has denied any role in his wife's disappearance and recently asked the judge to move his sons to a neutral caretaker, claiming his wife's parents — who have publicly implicated Josh Powell in their daughter's disappearance — were turning their two sons against him.

Chuck and Judy Cox declined to comment Sunday. Attorney Anne Bremner, who is representing the Cox family, said they have asked for time to grieve before speaking to the media.

Bremner learned about the deaths from a reporter in Salt Lake City. She then called Chuck Cox, who drove to Powell's house.

"It's unspeakable what he learned. It's horrific," Bremner said. "They've lost everything. They've lost their daughter. They've lost their grandkids."

Troyer said that Pierce County sheriff's investigators were coordinating with West Valley City police and that his office was seeking a search warrant for the house.

Steven Powell, who remains in jail in Pierce County, was notified of what happened Sunday and placed on suicide watch, Troyer said.

Steven Powell claimed last year that he and Susan Powell had a flirtatious relationship, and that he believed they were in love — allegations Chuck Cox dismissed as false, saying it was Powell who initiated unwanted sexual advances to her.

Troyer said the caseworker who went to the house Sunday was traumatized, and his detectives who had previously worked on the case were devastated.

"I feel bad for everybody ... so many people put so much work into this," Troyer said. Of Josh Powell, he said, "I wish he would have taken himself out and left the boys alone."

Troyer said police in Utah strongly believe Powell is responsible for the disappearance of his wife.

Denise Revels Robinson, assistant secretary of Children's Administration for DSHS, issued a statement saying, "All of us at the Department of Social and Health Services were shocked and deeply saddened by reports that Josh Powell had taken his own life and that of his two young children."

Robinson said the children were taken to the house as part of an ongoing court-ordered visitation schedule.

Robinson said the department will conduct a standard formal child-fatality review.

On her Facebook page, Susan Powell's best friend in West Valley City, Kiirsi Hellewell, expressed her grief, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"It's true. Feels like life is over," Hellewell said.

Denise Cox, the boys' aunt, told The Tribune she is in shock and was headed to her parents' house Sunday.

Cox had just seen her nephews at her parents' Saturday and joked about leaving the house because Charlie commanded her to come back to see him Sunday. She said it was funny that he didn't ask her to come back, he told her to — which the family thought was cute.

On Thursday, Braden Powell spent time with Cox and was affectionate, she said.

"He gave me a hug and a kiss and said 'I love you' before he left," she said. "It was the best feeling ever and almost brought tears to my eyes."

Source http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2017434073_powell06m.html