Susan Powell Husband Josh Powell Murders Kids Commits Suicide During Supervised Visitation
Joshua Powell, husband of missing and presumed deceased Utah woman Susan Powell, deliberately triggered an explosion Sunday afternoon killing himself and the couples two young sons Charles and Braden Powell.
A case worker arrived with the children for the court ordered supervised visitation was blocked entry by Powell, and shortly thereafter the home exploded.
Josh’s Father Steven is awaiting trial for various perv charges and all over creepiness, and Josh was just denied custody of the children in favor of them staying with Susan’s parents, The Cox’s.
www.blinkoncrime.com wishes to extend our sincere condolences to The Cox and members of the Powell Family who are not perverted freaks or murderers.
It would seem I recall expressing my concern this was a definite concern early on. I wish to commend all that recognized this and did everything in their power to give these beautiful little cherubs their best chance.
These little guys see their Mother today, and I pray that there is comfort in that reality for those dealing with this loss today.
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@Sunshine – that was a sick case and ALL deserved the sentences thet received, including the DHS social worker & the DHS contractor head. For those that may not be familiar:
http://articles.philly.com/2011-07-15/news/29777015_1_involuntary-manslaughter-mickal-kamuvaka-prison-term
Me: I think that the Powell case is different though bc of the fact that visitation was court ordered. IMO the case worker wasn’t trained enough but I am also of the belief that there shouldn’t have been visitation at all, and that’s not something the Case worker has control over. Personally, I know how I’d react therefore I judge based on my own self. I’d have kicked the foors down, busted the windows, etc. Sure i may have perished as well but those kids would have needed me therefore they’d take precedence. Again, cops, firefighters, armed forces do this on a daily basis. Selflessness. She should have called 911 immediately, not after she called her supervisor. BUT in the case worker’s defense, she couldn’t have known without proper education and experience. The state should not have allowed this. Of course if Josh had his mind made up then it could havd happened anywhere, including the Cox’s home. The difference is that Josh should have been under supervision as a formal prime poi in his wife’s disappearance. Education. Change. The state effed up. They should be held accountable.
If a daycare worker is responsible for taking your child to school and bringing them back from school, and that child gets out of the daycare van and runs into the road and subsequently is ran over by a vehicle, then dies – who is to blame? At the very minimum that daycare worker will lose their job. More times than not the daycare worker and/or daycare will lose their license. Sometimes they’ll even be charged with manslaughter, including the person that drove the car that hit the kid. Just an example but a pretty good one.
Training & requirements in education need an upheaval. The state needs to be held accountable. My God there’s two dead children that deserved sooo much more than the hell they endured. Hacks to the head & necks with an axe BUT smoke inhalation contributed to their death? That tells me their lungs showed signs of inhalation, which means no matter how much they were suffering they still had to be alive in order to breathe in the smoke. They suffered. Preventable is the key word here. If something is preventable, then there has to be a penalty. At the very least there should be reform and training, more educational requirements, something besides just the basic 20 hours training.
I’m so very sad.
I place this Josh’s brutal series of murders with the brutality of the CT home invasion murders committed by another Josh, Joshua Komisarjevsky. I didn’t think anything could be more brutal but hacking your tiny sons then burning them alive… it makes me wonder if the adult burned in that house was really Josh Powell, did he escape? Being the definition of brutal coward, and that he set this up, well ahead of time, given his family appears to condone his hacking his sons and burning them alive, (did the father also teach him to do that as he obviously taught him to admire child prn, which is child rape) they would totally hide him. I’d I want to see the proof and I do not trust the capabilities and other -ilities of local ME’s.
There is a similarity in both Josh’s expressions as well, if you read behind the eyes. The difference is Komisarjevsky family admits their brother was beyond sick, and deserves death, and the Powell family fully blames the rest of the world for his – and their – apparently genetic serial brutality. IMO the Pwell family should be and most likely will be hounded – cyber and otherwise -until each of their dying days. I wouldn’t hire any of them. I hope others feel the same. Only a similar monster would feel safe crawling into bed with his sister. May this earth be rid of their DNA.
I look at this picture and realize that if I had seen this family in a
Walmart,I would think would a happy,nice family,As we all know looks
are very deceiving.I really feel bad for all the LE,fireman,neighbors,
family members,media that were closely involved.They probably are sitting there wondering what did we miss or what could have been done sooner.Mistakes were made and that will not help them but rather lead
to better laws and ways of handling child visitations and custody cases.
Josh Powell and his father were deeply flawed.Steven Powell had a motherless childhood basically.Some people can move away from it and some continue in the abusive mode.I am not excusing this at all.
It does exist and you can’t make them get help.Even if you wanted to get help,doctors and medication cost money and long term care which most can’t afford.It will remain one of the biggest problems until something on the national level is done.
This is such a tragedy and do think Josh felt trapped,why did he have to take the kids life with him.Sadly I don’t think Josh ever loved them,and was not even capable of that emotion.They were just possessions he wanted nobody else to have.
If I hear one more idiot say Josh did this bc he was cyber harassed I’m gonna scream. Here’s something his support system to take in…
http://i.word.com/idictionary/enabler
ENABLER
Main Entry: en·abler
Pronunciation: \i-ˈnā-blər, -bəl-ər\
Function: noun
Date: 1615
: one that enables another to achieve an end; especially : one who enables another to persist in self-destructive behavior (as substance abuse) by providing excuses or by making it possible to avoid the consequences of such behavior
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Enabling
ENABLING
This article describes enabling in its counseling or psychological sense. For enabling in an empowerment sense, see empowerment. For enabling in computer terms where an object or Graphical User Interface widget is able to respond to events, see enabled/disabled.
Enabling is a term with a double meaning.[1]
As a positive term, it references patterns of interaction which allow individuals to develop and grow. These may be on any scale, for example within the family,[1] or in wider society as “Enabling acts” designed to empower some group, or create a new authority for a (usually governmental) body.
In a negative sense, enabling is also used in the context of problematic behavior, to signify dysfunctional approaches that are intended to help but in fact may perpetuate a problem.[1][2] A common theme of enabling in this latter sense is that third parties take responsibility, blame, or make accommodations for a person’s harmful conduct (often with the best of intentions, or from fear or insecurity which inhibits action). The practical effect is that the person themself does not have to do so, and is shielded from awareness of the harm it may do, and the need or pressure to change. It is a major environmental cause of addiction.[3]
A common example of enabling can be observed in the relationship between the alcoholic/addict and a codependent spouse. The spouse believes incorrectly that he or she is helping the alcoholic by calling into work for them, making excuses that prevent others from holding them accountable, and generally cleaning up the mess that occurs in the wake of their impaired judgment.[citation needed] In reality what the spouse is doing is hurting, not helping. Enabling prevents psychological growth in the person being enabled and can contribute to negative symptoms in the enabler.
One of the primary purposes of a formal Family Intervention with alcoholics/addicts is to help the family cease their enabling behaviors.
Generally, individuals who enable others have weak boundaries, low self-esteem, and have difficulty being assertive when they communicate with others.
If this is credible, the boys were definitely talking.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20567896,00.html
Radiogirl! Nice to see you post.
@Riverpearl & Lea. TY for informative posts.
@Georgiadad. Makes no diff if msw, ba,or aide.
One has to do one’s job description.
If it were my high school daughter as babysitter, with or without abuse training–of say as little as 5 hrs–I’d expect her to have kids belted in, get herself out first, and walk the kids in hand to the door.
I don’t believe for a minute he blocked her. She wasnt at door when they entered.
I’d expect daughter to be there, & I know she’d call 911 & begin smashing windows. Because she’d take her job seriously. And she would not walk back to car, sit down, & chew it over with supv in an emergency. That’s because even an uneducated aide or a high school
student can take their job seriously. I know my daughter & what she’d do.
It took fire 3 min to get there. if the second she was locked out she had called cops with a 911, they’d have been there. personally, if it were my non-profit, I’d have had the local precinct on standby or parked close every visit. Police are very cooperative with these cases
no Titch. no diff between adults & children. and specialization in an msw program is elective & self selected.
and many states just hire BAs in Engl and History as “caseworkers”
I’ve just been dumbstruck since I first heard. I’m so sorry for those children and for the Cox family. I do believe everything happens for a reason, but damned if I can figure this one out.
For all of the family members of the POFS who are justifying the cold blooded murder of two innocent children, it clearly shows the importance you people put on the children in your family. I feel sorry for all of the children connected to your families.
Susan Powell was going to leave Josh and take her children…it was wildly reported when it first happened. Jennifer Graves can testify to that….so what does he do?? He makes her disappear…..and now that he had pretty much stopped winning….or was about to….he goes out in a cowardly fashion and murders his own children in cold blood.
Why dont the rest of you Powells just shrink back into the woodwork before you call enough attention to yourselves that the public discovers even more sick perverted things about the rest of you.
Wow. Just wow. Blink, ya might find this interesting. It actually infuriates me and I predict it’ll infuriate everyone else as well.
http://nancygrace.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/07/lawyer-cops-told-powell-family-arrest-was-near/?hpt=ng_t1
Snipped:
“My clients were assured repeatedly by the West Valley Police Department that an arrest was pending, be patient,” attorney Steve Downing said on HLN’s “Nancy Grace.” “…They were told repeatedly that something was going to happen and it never did.”
Downing said Chuck and Judy Cox were told last year that Powell would be arrested by November 15, and when that didn’t happen, they were told the arrest was coming sometime this summer. He said police were “absolutely” aware that Powell’s children had made statements about their mother being in a mine or in the trunk of a car — and one had even drawn a picture of the family van with Susan in the trunk — but they still did not act.
“Assurances after assurances, the arrest never happened,” family attorney Anne Bremner told Grace.
When asked about Downing’s allegations, West Valley Police Sgt. Mike Powell told HLN that “Anything specific to our actual investigation itself we are not able to release or discuss at this point. We still have an active missing person investigation and the integrity of that investigation is of the utmost importance to us.”
@rose – Thank you! Omg BAs in Eng & Hist? Wow! I used fo work with somebody in Delaware that was going to school to further her education as she wanted to be a social worker. She was told she needed more psychology credits under her belt in order to move up. She volunteered for Big Sisters I believe but her mother was a social worker, which was also her aspiration. I think she had only attended DelTech but then went onto Wilmington College to further her degree? I don’t know much that’s required, only had a thought about it. I think it’s a shame. I believe with what they’re entrusted with, especially considering the welfare of a child, they should have even more assisted field experience than book hours. A bachelor’s should be the absolute minimum but it appears as though some don’t even need an associate’s! It’s frightening to think how many similar situations may have gone unnoticed. These poor boys deserved better than this system that failed them.
While many of us are just horrified at what happened to these children, we care enough to question the system that failed them.
This IMO begins with a family court system that does not provide proper training and coordination with the civil and criminal courts.
While many have experience in dealing with behaviors that are not considered normal and immediately see danger signs, there are those who do not. A family court judge who becomes involved in a case such as this one has zero business ordering visits twice a week to the home of a parent who is considered a person of interest in the murder of the childrens mother. A really wise person would not do such an order.
We as individuals could investigate the organization of the family court system in our own communities. The things to be found will suprise some.
Josh Powell, IMO was potentially a sociopath from the day he arrived on the planet. All it took was to be born into a family of enablers. We see this with the father and some of his siblings.
http://piersmorgan.blogs.cnn.com/2012/02/06/kiirsi-hellewell-on-josh-powell-being-responsible-for-susan-powells-death-i-had-no-doubt-whatsoever/
Snipped:
In a live interview on “Piers Morgan Tonight,” Hellewell told Morgan that while she believes Josh Powell is responsible for her best friend’s death, she thinks he had help: “I don’t believe he acted alone,” says Hellewell. “I know Josh, and I know that he likes to make big, grandiose plans, and talk big, but it always takes somebody else pushing him to carry things out.”
Chuck Cox interview. What an amazingly strong man he is. My gosh.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?v=q5dOa-8fRlw
I am sorry to even bring this up, but it’s eating at me.
I have to ask-did no one hear any screaming when POS hacked at those little boys? To me, if the “caseworker” was anywhere near the house, there had to be screaming. Terrified children scream, and no matter how quickly POS did his evil deed, I think that someone near the house would have heard.
I think that the “caseworker” was probably in her car at that point, talking to first her supervisor, then calling 911 on her advice.
That’s the only way she would not hear anything in the house.
Because if she was truly beating on the door and windows–she most likely would have heard screams.
JMO
While it may be true so far that Steven Powell cannot be proven to be a physical accessory to the murders of Susan, Charlie or Braden,
he is most certainly an active accessory before and after.
I hope that no one lends this cretin anything in the way of money or attention, to tell us why. Nothing he can say can lend any credence or peace to this monstrous show of evil.
Is there anything more important than the integrity of an investigation? We have to ask this, as the fall out from this mind set seems to leave an aftermath of disaster in more than one case.
Was it not more important for Utah LE to follow up with WA family court with the computer evidence on Powell?
Is it not more important for the PPS families to be aware of a dangerous person showing up at a science fair?
Is it not more important that a standing governor..
Is the conviction the *only* thing that matters?
snip>
“We still have an active missing person investigation and the integrity of that investigation is of the utmost importance to us.”
Titch says:
February 7, 2012 at 6:20 pm
The giving away of Charlie and Braden’s toys, books and things was just another example of punishing his children. He got rid of things they loved there is no other reason, certainly not for charity.
I wonder what JP did with the $$$$.
http://www.katu.com/news/local/AP-Susan-Powell-case-called-a-murder-138892464.html
Maybe this will once and for all wipe that stupid ass smirk off of Steven Powell’s face. Somehow I doubt it.
I remember thinking a similar thought after reading that Ayla Reynolds was missing and the first look at justin dipietro’s similar mug vs. first seeing josh powell’s mug:
Disappointment.
They both look so hideously, looserishly disappointing.
I know that it is wrong to judge upon looks, but really? Were we wrong? Ugh.
The sweet boys were so sadly failed, as was Ayla.
He HATED them.
Evil, dark and soulless just don’t begin to draw the sick enough picture. He hated them. He wanted to give their things away and see fear in their eyes and cause them pain and suffering. I haven’t stopped crying all day, but at least now I have an answer that makes sense.
Hope my notes might be helpful to others.
Times of emails to cousin and others. The cousin lived in Texas, a two hour difference from WA. I’ve put parenthesis around the times it would be in WA.
12:02 (10:02) – 1st email – The first one came in at 12:02 p.m. local time in Texas as a Google account request, which he thought was odd, but he had no idea who had sent it, although it was from Josh Powell.
12:10 (10:10) – 2nd email – google voice transcription on voicemail left from Josh.
2:11 (12:11) email from Josh “Sorry Goodbye” – This is the one several people rec’d.
(12:13) – First call to Fire and Rescue
Unknown who made this first call. Some articles only say she was “among the first calls” which leads me to think they are skirting around the fact the SW wasn’t the first? Some articles report she called her supervisor first.
LE appears to me to be in a very protective mode with her. I can understand that, even if she made a poor judgment under stress, there is no denying he had it set up so nothing would have prevented the results.
Anyway, I think these times put into a short list puts it all in perspective how quickly it all occurred. You can see that to locked out the SW, send emails, hatchet and set fire seems to have occurred in 11 mins.
There are many discrepancies at this point in media (as usual)
The best place to hear an account would probably be directly from Detective Troyer rather than an article without quotes or misquotes.
For instance, some reporting the boys “ran” to their father. That is NOT what the detective reports if we listen to him ourselves.
http://mynorthwest.com/?nid=577&a=38755&p=&n=AudioClip
Regarding the drawing and remark ‘mommy was in the trunk”
Worth noting – This occurred in 2010, NOT recently. And, Cox said it was Branden, while Cox’s lawyer Steve Downing says it was Charlie and he claims he rec’d that info from LE.
http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20567896,00.html
My question would be – why in the heck are we just hearing this now and what the he77 was LE doing with this info. They refuse to address it under the ‘ongoing’ investigation statement. And, with Judy Cox saying it landed in Josh’s hands, why in the he77 would LE let that happen?!
COD and burning bodies – sorry to be graphic but it is important to understand how the human body actually burns, to understand how they were not burned to ashes like some think in trying to see how the ME determined smoke inhalation. Keep in mind, Cremation at around 1800 degrees in a contained space with , takes about 2-2.5 hrs.
FORENSICS Body burning
http://www.sott.net/articles/show/185067-Body-burners-The-forensics-of-fire
http://www.nfda.org/planning-a-funeral/cremation/160.html#hot
http://www.disinfo.com/2009/05/exactly-how-does-the-human-body-burn/
http://science.howstuffworks.com/cremation1.htm
Just reading about the latest-the hatchet. How effed up can a person get? This is just gut-wrenching… Where was Josh working at the time-anybody know? I would assume the state would make him have employment and if he did any co-workers notice anything? IMO, he never was held accountable for anything. Come on LE in Utah-wasn’t there anything that could be done…too many moms and young females meet their demise at the hand of their so-called boyfriends, stalkers, husbands etc. I am not condemning men but what is wrong with our society when the means and intentions are there to protect yet does not. Are children not sacred enough?
http://news.yahoo.com/police-powell-withdrew-7k-day-killings-011944636.html
where is Steven Powell now?
This man’s depravity had no bounds. God have mercy on his pathetic soul.
911 CALLS
SEATTLE — Josh Powell withdrew $7,000 in cash from a Pierce County bank account on Saturday, according to a search warrant served on Josh Powell’s financial documents.
The warrant sought surveillance video footage and Powell’s records from the Bank of America branch where he made the withdrawal.
Authorities were also serving another search warrant Tuesday afternoon at a storage unit that was rented by Powell. It was not known what investigators looking for.
Also on Tuesday, deputies released recordings of 911 calls made moments preceding and following the fatal explosion. Among the recordings is a call made by the state case worker assigned to the Powell boys.
“I smell gasoline, but he won’t let me in. He’s got the kids in the house, and he won’t let me in,” the case worker said. “I think I need help right away. He’s on a very short leash with DSHS, and CPS has been involved. And this is the craziest thing.”
“This could be life-threatening. He went to court on Wednesday, and he didn’t get his kids back. And…I’m afraid for their lives,” the case worker said.
Powell’s own sister, Alina Powell, also called 911.
“I think my brother might be in trouble or something. He’s sending weird emails, saying goodbye and stuff,” the sister said. The woman, who sounded very distraught, grew frustrated when she could not provide the dispatcher with her brother’s exact address.
“I don’t know. I just know how to get there,” said the woman, crying.
Powell’s attorney and his employer also called 911 after learning about the fatal explosion to report they had received cryptic emails from Powell earlier in the day.
http://www.komonews.com/news/local/AP-Susan-Powell-case-called-a-murder-138892464.html
I’m sure you have all read it, so why did Powell take $7K out of the bank on Saturday? Was he planning to leave town instead of or after the homicides of his sons? When did he give the toys away, Saturday, or before. Why weren’t we watching him?
http://www.mediafire.com/?mddmft14ht0jq
911 recordings
8 wma files provided by
http://www.nwcn.com/news/washington/138901649.html
I read that the 5 year old had an ax cut on head and neck. The 7 year old had an ax cut on the neck. They died from this…before the explosion. What a coward!
http://www.nwcn.com/news/138854399.html
@sammi
So, I got the name right, of course, and thank you lizzi-
Howe ver, let’s be open to alina doing the beat age could at the time, for now.
Susan Powell’s case has now been declared a murder:
“A Washington state search warrant obtained by The Associated Press through a public records request Tuesday showed that police were investigating three felonies in Utah: first-degree murder, kidnapping and obstructing a public servant.”
http://www.kens5.com/news/national/138893929.html
—————————————————–
What did JP need $7,000 for( withdrew the day before the fire )?
Why did he leave instructions on how to turn off his utilities?
——————————————————–
So I am wondering if “how to shut off utilities” was a code that someone out there knows the meaning of?
I don’t have a clue myself, but this really stands out to me. About to commit the most horrific crime, the sickening murders of his own children–he takes the time to instruct people how to turn off his utilities?
Also, $7,000 taken out of the bank the day before the murders and fire–was he planning to get out of the house after he killed the boys and run off to hide? Did he screw up his own plan, or did some other adult male die in the fire?
Are we sure that JP was the person in that house?
This is really disturbing and should have been picked up on long ago. So it looks as if no one really checked out the home that JP was living in, to be sure he was actually “living” in it.
__________________________
“It now appears that Josh Powell may not have been living in the Graham house that he set on fire Sunday, and may have only staged it for visitations.
Pierce County Detective Ed Troyer told 97.3 KIRO FM’s Ron & Don Show that investigators have determined his plot to kill himself and his two young sons goes back at least 24 hours.
In his Graham neighborhood, Troyer said neighbors rarely saw people coming and going from the house that Josh Powell was renting.
“We think he was living in places where he shouldn’t have been. But he’d just staged a home with pictures on the wall of Susan and some of the kids clothing there, just enough stuff for the visitation. The neighbors never saw him,” Troyer said. “So we think he was just using the house as a staged location for visitations.”
————————-
Add http in front of link:
://mynorthwest.com/11/624009/Powell-house-appeared-staged-for-visitations-chilling-911-calls-released
Text of 911 calls concerning the Josh Powell house explosion:
Add http in front of link:
://m.sltrib.com/sltrib/mobile/53467329-78/dispatcher-powell-griffin-hall.html.csp
___________________________
Complete 911 calls from: social worker Elizabeth Griffin-Hall; Alina Powell; Jeff Bassett, Josh Powell’s attorney; Josh Powell’s boss ; male witness who saw house fire from the back of the home; female witness to the fire.
One of the comments on the story DJR posted above said (and I agree, unfortunately): “Too bad he wasn’t charged with a marijuana crime.
There would’ve been no way that he’d ever gotten any visitation rights ! Murder and child porn? No problem I guess…….”
http://news.yahoo.com/police-powell-withdrew-7k-day-killings-011944636.html
We punish small-time drug users/abusers more harshly than we punish those that hurt our women and children. When our society reverses its backwards course, perhaps we’ll get somewhere.
I also completely agree with the poster that wrote something to the effect of, “Parental rights should never trump child welfare.”
Listen to the very first 911 call. The case worker didn’t know the address. She called bc Josh locked her out she said she could hear crying. She remembered a number but not exact address. She asked dispatcher if he could just find her by gps.
http://today.seattletimes.com/2012/02/911-audio-from-josh-powells-sister-boys-caseworker/
Omg That first 911 call is a joke. About 5 minutes were wasted! I can’t tell you how many times wtf went through my head. This is a case worker? Seriously? Again, same link first call out of the whole list, wait for them to load:
http://today.seattletimes.com/2012/02/911-audio-from-josh-powells-sister-boys-caseworker/
She said she was one step in back of the kids & that Josh shut the door in her face.
I am blown away. She asks to back out of the driveway bc she smells gas. This was toward the beginning of the 911 call. Then, if you listen, you’ll wonder how those pre opus few minutes could have been wasted. Sure, might nit have prevented the outcome, but IMO shows incompetence.
http://video.seattletimes.com/1439575840001 Ackkkk!
A Prius? Omg I think I need to step away.
http://www.kirotv.com/videos/news/caseworkers-911-call-in-josh-powell-murder-suicide/vF2M5/ They have to respond to emergencies first???
The fricken 911 dispatcher should be fired! Case worker, even though ditzy, explained to him the situation and also said she smelled gas BUT the dispatcher says he doesnt know when somebody will get there as emergency personnel have to respond to life threatening situations first! Both are incompetent! Both should lose their jobs! Is there certain protocol to follow when dispatching? 5 whole minutes were wasted! Wasted!
Omg in Alina’s 911 call she kept mentioning Josh is being abused (talking about the public & media)! She also mentioned getting a weird email “this morning” that seemed like it was forwarded or something. Didn’t pat it any mind.
Alina, no matter how I feel about the whole enabling issue, showed true emotion. She showed true qorried concerns for her brother. Even though she thought he was abused or harassed, I’m wondering if she’s just in full blown denial bc she doesn’t want to believe he had anything to do with Susan’s disappearance. Pair that with her father’s disgusting charges, she may feel as though she needs to have faith in Josh. Who knows really, but hasn’t she been in his corner from the beginning?
I’ve read, but I’m not sure the statistics on this, but when there’s frequent or harsh sexual abuse that schizophrenia can develop as a defense mechanism. Since Steven is in jail on multiple illegal porn & voyeurism charges, and since a family member has stated schizophrenia & mental illness runs in their family, I wonder if there’s abuse & if so how many generations does it penetrate?
I’m going to pray for everyone. Everyone.
“Something really weird has happened,” the social worker outside Josh Powell’s house in Graham, Wash. told the 911 dispatcher.
“The kids went into the house and the parent, whose name is Josh Powell, will not let me in the door. What should I do?”
“I could hear one of the kids crying…I think I need help right away,” the social worker said. “He’s on a very short leash with [the state child supervision agency] and this is the craziest thing. He looked right at me and closed the door.”
She told the dispatcher she wanted to pull her car out of the driveway. She smelled gasoline, she said.
“He’s got the kids in the house, and he won’t let me in….I rang the doorbell and everything. I begged him to let me in.”
“I was one step in back of them…he shut the door right in my face,” reported the woman, who was on contract to the Washington Department of Social and Health Services.
In the 911 call, the social worker attempted to remain calm but seemed to grow increasingly frustrated as the dispatcher repeatedly asked for details about who she was, why she was at the house, what kind of car she was driving, and finally told her a deputy would be sent when one was free. “They have to respond to emergency, life-threatening situations first,” the dispatcher explained.
“This could be life threatening!” the social worker interjected. “He went to court Wednesday and he didn’t get the kids back, and I’m–I’m afraid for their lives.”
Moments later, the social worker called back. The house was in flames. This time, she was put through to the fire department.
“There’s two little boys in the house. They’re 5 and 7, and there’s an adult man…he blew up the house and the kids!” she said, speaking calmly but urgently.
“And you think he might have done it intentionally?” the dispatcher asked.
“Yes,” she replied.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/nationnow/2012/02/josh-powell-explosion-fire-911-tapes.html
*You can listen to case wker 911 calls @ link above^^^
***Elizabeth Griffin-Hall***, who had brought the boys to Powell’s home for a supervised visit, called 911 after she said the man let the two boys into the house but slammed the door in her face.
“Nothing like this has ever happened before — one of these supervised visits. I’m really shocked,” she said in the 911 call, one of seven released this evening. “I can hear the kids crying but he still wouldn’t let me in.”
She told the 911 operator she wanted to move her car out of the driveway because she smelled gas coming from the house, and then asked for police to be sent to the home. But the 911 operator said officers only get sent to life-threatening situations.
“This could be life-threatening,” she said. “He went to court on Wednesday and he didn’t get his kids back. I’m afraid for their lives.”
Moments later, with Powell’s house engulfed in flames, she called back and told a 911 operator she believed he intentionally blew up the house, killing himself and his children.
That same day, Powell’s distraught sister, Alina Powell, called 911 to say she was receiving “weird” messages from her brother via email and voicemail that made her too “terrified to drive over there” herself.
“I’m not afraid of him,” she told the emergency operator through sobs. “He’s never hurt me. I’m afraid of seeing something I don’t want to see.”
The frantic child services worker told the 911 operator that she brought the two boys to Josh Powell’s home for the visit, but after he let the boys into the house he “slammed the door in [her] face” and then the house exploded.
“People are saying there’s not somebody here,” Griffin-Hall said in another 911 call after the explosion, “but I was just there, and there is somebody here. There’s two little boys in the house and they’re 5 and 7, and there’s an adult man, and he has supervised visits, and he blew up the house and the kids.”
When the 911 operator asked her if she believed he did it “intentionally,” she answered, “Yes.”
The call from Alina Powell was among the other tapes released today.
“He left me a voicemail,” she said. “He said something about [how] he can’t live without his sons and goodbye.”
According to investigators, Josh Powell withdrew $7,000 in cash the day before the explosion Pierce County Prosecutor Mark Lindquist told The Associated Press that detectives obtained Powell’s bank records Monday, and that they are searching a storage unit he rented.
In another of the seven 911 calls just released, Jeff Bassett, Josh Powell’s attorney, told the 911 operator about an email he received from his client.
“I understand he may have had an explosion. I may have some information,” he told the operator after identifying himself.
When asked what information, he replied, “Just if it was an accident or if it was more than that. I got an email from my client and that could give every indication it was intentional. … Basically, it says ‘I’m sorry and goodbye.’”
Ed Wadagnolo, who said Powell worked for him, called 911 after seeing news of the house explosion and said he received a similar “strange email” that read, “I’m sorry. Goodbye.”
Both Bassett and Wadagnolo said they received the emails at 12:05 p.m.
Ed Wadagnolo, who said Powell worked for him, called 911 after seeing news of the house explosion and said he received a similar “strange email” that read, “I’m sorry. Goodbye.”
Both Bassett and Wadagnolo said they received the emails at 12:05 p.m.
The tapes of the CPS worker, Alina Powell and Bassett were among seven released today. The others included frantic, fearful voices of people who heard the explosion, saw the house engulfed in flames and called 911.
A female neighbor told the 911 operator that there was “a loud, huge boom. And there’s crap flying all over the place, dark smoke.”
“Fire. Fire. There’s a house on fire. Explosion,” a male neighbor said. “The house is totally engulfed in fire, from front to back.”
http://abcnews.go.com/US/josh-powell-house-explosion-911-calls-released/story?id=15535154
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Have also heard POS ‘transfered’ money into ‘another persons’ account’ -but- have NOT heard WHO that person was -or- if it was in fact the $7K he withdrew …. it appears info may be being jumbled w/ “1/2truths & facts” … also it appears that so much info is coming from so many directions that it is getting ‘compacted’ into short ‘sound bites’ ….
The 911 calls are now released.
They’re being played on all the major networks this morning.
2 frantic 911 calls from the case worker who took Charlie and Braden to that house.
In the calls she states the boys were just steps ahead of her – then Josh looked her straight in the eyes and slammed/locked the door in her face.
The case worker can be heard in the FIRST call (before the house blew) to say to the 911 dispatcher that something is terribly wrong and how Josh took the boys and has locked her out and she smells gas.
Unfortunately, the 911 operator tells her that “responders must attend to life threatening emergencies first”.
The case worker is sobbing and saying she fear this IS a life threatening situation. (paraphrase)
It’s during this time I imagine the things where my mind will not allow me to go are happenning inside that house with POS Josh and his hatchet.
The case worker then makes a 2nd call to 911 telling them that Josh has blown up the house with the boys inside.
The operator says “you think he did this intentionally?”
Her 2nd call is followed by many 911 calls from neighbors saying the house blew up.
So it seems 911 did not take the 1st call seriously – not considering it a life threatening situation as he/she was triaging dispatch of help to scene.
But, even if help was sent immedietely with the first call – I don;t think that the boys could have been saved.
Josh had this planned and was laying in wait for this moment.
I can’t place any blame with this case worker.
She would have been a 4th dead body in that house if she had done any more than she did.
Josh Powell was a POS narcissist who was bound and determined kill himself and selfishly take Charlie and Braden with him.
If he couldn’t have the boys – no one was gonna have them in his mind.
Where I find major fault is that these court ordered visits were even allowed.
Josh saw what was coming his way after his loss in court last week – and the psycho-sexual testing that was ordered.
He knew his time was up b/c Charlie and Braden were vocalizing more and more about there Mom.
Josh knew his was losing and that pissed him off.
It’s being reported that an arrest of Josh before summer was likely – b/c LE was close to making it’s case against him for Susan’s murder.
THAT info should have ended any visits with Josh – supervised or not.
IF the court was determined that these visits were to continue – they needed to be in a safe and secure location.
Supervised visits used to take place in the courthouse buildings (Friend of the Court) – I know some States still make arrangements that way.
In a govt. building there would be metal detectors and screening to even enter the building.
That’s the only way I can see that it might have possibly been safe for these supervised visits to continue.
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Rose says:
February 7, 2012 at 5:53 pm
@Riverpearl & Lea. TY for informative posts.
@Georgiadad. Makes no diff if msw, ba,or aide.
One has to do one’s job description.
If it were my high school daughter as babysitter, with or without abuse training–of say as little as 5 hrs–I’d expect her to have kids belted in, get herself out first, and walk the kids in hand to the door.
I don’t believe for a minute he blocked her. She wasnt at door when they entered.
I’d expect daughter to be there, & I know she’d call 911 & begin smashing windows. Because she’d take her job seriously. And she would not walk back to car, sit down, & chew it over with supv in an emergency. That’s because even an uneducated aide or a high school
student can take their job seriously. I know my daughter & what she’d do.
It took fire 3 min to get there. if the second she was locked out she had called cops with a 911, they’d have been there. personally, if it were my non-profit, I’d have had the local precinct on standby or parked close every visit. Police are very cooperative with these cases