Husband of Missing Utah Woman Kills Sons and Himself in Fiery Blast

(NewsCore) - Josh Powell -- the husband of missing Utah woman Susan Powell -- killed himself and his two young sons Sunday in a planned inferno at his Washington home, authorities believe.

The fiery blast happened shortly after a case worker brought the boys to the home in a cul-de-sac at Graham, about 25 miles (40km) southeast of Tacoma, for a supervised visit around 12:30pm local time, a source told KOMO-TV.

After delivering the children, the case worker was forced out, Powell locked the door "and an explosion happened shortly thereafter," Pierce County Sheriff's Office spokesman Ed Troyer told The Seattle Times. "The fire burned hot and it burned fast."

The traumatized social worker, who said she smelled gas shortly before the blast, dialed 911 and was banging on the house windows even as the flames spread, according to The News Tribune.

One neighbor told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer the explosion shook his home more than 100 yards (meters) away.

"It felt like a sonic boom," Dan Seeyle said. "The whole house shook."

The bodies of an adult male and two children were found, together in one room in the middle of the devastated house.

While they had not yet been officially identified, they were assumed to be Powell -- who had been named as a person of interest after his wife's 2009 disappearance and had lost custody of the boys while mired in a pornography case -- plus seven-year-old Charlie and five-year-old Braden.

The Pierce County medical examiner removed the three bodies from the house around 5:30pm Sunday, The News Tribune reported.

Authorities said they believed the explosion had been premeditated, and Josh Powell had earlier sent string of emails to unspecified recipients, according to Troyer.

"We are getting emails from him," Troyer said, according to The News Tribune. "They lead us to believe that this is intentional, this is planned."

Troyer called the act a double murder-suicide, which had left the community in shock.

"It was an act of evil. Do not call it a tragedy because that sanitizes it," Pierce County Sheriff Paul Pastor added, according to The Seattle Times. "This was a terrible act of murder involving two young children."

Roughly 100 people gathered Sunday evening at Carson Elementary in Puyallup, where Charlie went to school, bringing flowers, stuffed animals and handmade cards in memory of the two children.

A vigil was also held at Oquirrh Hills Elementary School in Utah's West Valley City, where the Powells used to live, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

"Whenever a child dies a violent death and an early death, every child has a right to have somebody come out and remember them for who they were and who they should have been allowed to be," local resident Cheyenne Miller said. "I have never met any of the Powells, but I was heartbroken today. I sat down and I cried."

West Valley City Mayor Mike Winder said, "We've seen the embodiment of evil today, and that is Josh Powell. Not only taking his own life, but that of two innocent children. He's been suspicious in this all along. ... Checking out the way he did, dragging two kids with him -- it's tragic. I think Josh could feel the wagons circling, and he did what he did today."

The West Valley City Police Department said they would send a team of officers to Washington state to determine if the police investigation there can help in the continuing probe into the disappearance of Susan Powell.

She was last seen on Dec. 7, 2009, when Josh Powell said he left their home in West Valley City to take their two sons, then aged two and four, camping in freezing conditions.

Although Josh Powell was the only person identified as of interest in the disappearance, he was never arrested or charged. After her disappearance he moved back to Washington state, where both his father and his wife's parents live.

In September the boys were removed from his custody and put in the care of their maternal grandparents, amid uncertainty over his involvement in a child pornography case linked to his own father.

His father, Steven Powell, was arrested at the same time and charged with 14 felony counts of voyeurism and one count of possessing depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct.

Josh Powell admitted to Child Protective Services workers that he had taken photos of people's legs without their knowledge and that his computer may contain photos taken by his father, with whom he and the boys had been living.

Last week he suffered a setback in his attempt to gain custody of the boys, The Salt Lake Tribune reported.

A Washington state judge ruled Wednesday that the Charlie and Braden would remain with their grandparents until July, and ordered Josh Powell undergo a psychosexual evaluation in light of the explicit photos found on his computer.