Man Suspected in Disappearance of His Wife Kills Sons in Murder-Suicide

February 6th, 2012 - By MN Editor

If you hadn’t heard the story yet, this is how it goes:

Susan Powell is a woman from Utah who went missing in December of 2009. A stock broker, she was reported missing by family members after she failed to show up for work, but not only was she reported missing, so was her husband Josh and her two sons, Braden and Charles. To the surprise of everyone though, her husband Josh and their two children finally came home immediately after the report was filed, and he insisted that he had taken his two young sons on a camping trip, which is why had been out of touch. However, Josh insisted that Susan was left at home and the last time he saw her or talked to her, she was fine. Susan’s belongings, including her keys, her purse, her car and more, were left behind. That was 2009. It is 2012 and no one has seen Susan since she went missing. But since that time, Josh has been the person of interest in her disappearance. Because of that, along with proof that he had child pornography in his possession, temporary custody of his two sons was granted to Susan’s father, Chuck. Joshua was still allowed to see the young boys though, and the last time they were brought to his home was on Sunday, Feb. 5.

On that Sunday, Josh and his two sons were killed when his home in Washington State exploded. It is presumed that the explosion was set off by a gas leak done by Josh, and is now being treated as a murder-suicide. Police believe he may have done it not only because his most recent effort to gain back custody of his sons was denied, but also because 7-year-old Braden (Charles is five) started saying that when they went on that camping trip in 2009, their mother was in the trunk of the car. Josh could have possibly believed that his lies were going to be exposed, and in an effort to stop all that, took his life as well as that of his sons.

In an interview with PEOPLE, Susan’s father, Chuck, said that the family saw this coming and tried to let the authorities know:

“We stated our fear many times, that if he was feeling desperate, that he would possibly kill himself and the boys, that this kind of thing could happen. If he felt there was no way out, that he wouldn’t let anyone else have them. They were possessions to him.”

“They were all aware of our fears – that he would take a cowardly way out.”

When I heard this story late last night, I couldn’t even believe it. If you want to take your own life for in some way hurting the mother of your children, that’s one thing, but to take the children with you? That’s unthinkable and just evil. If Susan’s father and family believed Josh was a threat to himself and the boys, it’s a shame that something couldn’t have been done about it sooner. May both little Braden and Charles rest in peace.

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  • Cma141047

    How could this man feel entitled to take the lives of two innocent little boys…. crying my eyes out over this… may the boys RIP

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  • Love_Sexy

    Very sad story……May those children RIP.

  • Love_Sexy

    Yes this was a sad outcome and I did not know the father was accused of having child porn in his possession……….Too many times the authorities do not listen to what is being told to them and in the end lives are lost……..Now 2 children are gone…..If the grandfather felt strongly about the safety of the children he should have got his own attorney regarding visitation with the father.

  • NSimonefan

    See, it’s things like this that really get my blood boiling.  Not just the murder of the woman and her sons by that devil, but the passive attitude of the woman’s father, the boys’ grandfather.  Sometimes people have to be proactive and defiant against the “authorities”.  The grandfather should have told the court and whoever else, including the father, that he would stop allowing the father to see their sons.  If the grandfather had to get an attorney, go to the media, do whatever to take his stand — those boys would probably be alive today.  Bump being nice — sometimes you have to defy the law when it comes to protecting yourself, your safety, life and death matters, and especially when it comes to protecting children and teens, 

    • Love_Sexy

      I agree 100%

    • Forthechildren

      Unfortunately even if a grandparents has “custody” of a child, the parent may still, legally, have visiting rights. Unless the father made threats to harm the kids or previously showed “unsafe” behaviors during a visit with the children, there is nothing that anyone could have said or done to have the visits legally stopped. In this case its very sad, but in reality the laws are there to protect a parent’s rights to their children. It’s a horrible fact of our nation’s justice system that children are in many ways just viewed as the possessions of their parents and the rights of the parents can trump what is in the best interest of the child. That’s the society that we live in. Sometimes it works out for the good, in this case it worked out in an extremely, horribly tragic way

      • NSimonefan

        I think the fact that the boys started talking about their mother being in the trunk of the car (with their father’s knowledge), that would serve as an indication that the father could have been a potential threat to the children.

  • http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1415696195 Calandrial PhoenixRising Afriy

    This is so sad…too often the authorities are not acting quick enough.  I’m not blaming the police, but stating an obvious continuing problem.  
    ,

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