Josh Powell's House in WA blows up

[Cappuccino]

Those children shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near that man, supervised or not! And I'm not talking from the benefit of hindsight either - they shouldn't have been allowed anywhere near him from the time the police suspected he killed his wife while on a camping trip with the children. You don't allow potential witnesses to a murder to hob nob with the suspected killer.

And its got nothing to do with suspects rights either, I'm all for suspects having all the rights they need to due process, efficient defense, etc. But allowing a murder suspect such a massive window of opportunity to intimidate witnesses is not a "right", that's just stupidity. The system has failed here, although I would stress that its not the social worker's fault, she's lucky she wasn't killed too. Its the legal process itself which has failed.

 

[Basmat]

I agree. His target was the Cox family.

My heart hurts for those poor, innocent children and for the grandparents. I simply cannot imagine the depths of their pain and horror. I truly don't think I would be strong enough to keep going.

May God bless those children and their remaining family and help their family through each long day.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Well I don't. For one, it's not a direct quote, and for other, other articles reported she was pounding before the fire broke out so he would let her in (which he didn't, and then she went to her car to call her supervisor). And what do you think is going to happen if one pounds on the walls of the exploding house?

He said AFTER the fire. Not DURING the explosion.

 

[JoeFromLB]

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2...as-in-the-trunk-boys-said-before-their-deaths

Sheriff's spokesman Ed Troyer said the elder Powell was put on suicide watch in custody after he was told of the deadly blast. "Steve Powell didn't seem very upset by the news, but was angry towards authorities who notified him," he said.

 

[Bittiness39]

I think what kills me is that the Judges in child custody cases are just not following anything other than a preference. no real case law...just not thinking it through. I am scared to death for Michelle Peterson's kids. I would bet my life that the same thing will happen to them. Something has to be done.

 

[passionflower]

Steve Powell not upset about losing his son and grandsons.............that is so cold.
Do you think he still controlled Josh from prison?
Did he tell Josh what to do when the time came that the walls were falling in
on 'THE' family secrets????

 

[SuziQ]

Not sure what's going on with my quotes on this Tapatalk app,

But what I was trying to say is I had never heard of that test about penile erections.

We usually don't hear about them. They are usually given in a prison setting to determine placement and treatment while incarcerated. And again given before release to determine the risk to the public. IIRC, this info is also given to parole boards before recommending parole. But it seems they mostly ignore the results and common sense and recommend release anyways.

Decades ago I watched a documentary or something that showed the process and evaluation of the test. The film was censored with blurred images of course. The images displayed can be anything from normal family pictures or kids playing on playgrounds, to violence, gory accidents, torture, rape, etc. IIRC, a sexual reaction to normal pictures of fully dressed kids was common and the most disturbing.

 

[mamamia54]

I have seen pictures of the house where the walls were still intact. I think that after the fire burned for several hours, there were no walls left standing, or very few.

 

[Basmat]

"There are a lot of positives regarding Mr. Powell," (Judge Kathryn) Nelson said, noting that he no longer lived in his father's house and had been cooperative with all the visitation requirements.


I wonder what the Judge has to say about Josh Powell now.

I am not sure how the judge came to the conclusion that not living in his father's house any longer was a "positive". He could hardly live there once his father was arrested on despicable charges.

He was FORCED to move. It's not like he moved willingly so how can that judge have called his move a "positive". It was a necessity.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

We usually don't hear about them. They are usually given in a prison setting to determine placement and treatment while incarcerated. And again given before release to determine the risk to the public. IIRC, this info is also given to parole boards before recommending parole. But it seems they mostly ignore the results and common sense and recommend release anyways.

Decades ago I watched a documentary or something that showed the process and evaluation of the test. The film was censored with blurred images of course. The images displayed can be anything from normal family pictures or kids playing on playgrounds, to violence, gory accidents, torture, rape, etc. IIRC, a sexual reaction to normal pictures of fully dressed kids was common and the most disturbing.

I find that very interesting. I am glad they have a test for such a thing.

Thanks for explaining this to me.

 

[jjenny]

I have seen pictures of the house where the walls were still intact. I think that after the fire burned for several hours, there were no walls left standing, or very few.

I don't think this fire burned for hours. They said it was moving fast. Also the neighbors say they heard explosions, so clearly something blew up inside there (if the neighbors are correct, and I fail to see why neighbors would lie).

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I have seen pictures of the house where the walls were still intact. I think that after the fire burned for several hours, there were no walls left standing, or very few.

Exactly. Thanks.

 

[A_News_Junkie]

No one is going to blame the social worker here on Websleuths. If you see any posts of that nature, please alert. But we can discuss the system and hope that by laying out what is broken, we can help fix it.

Kimster - I am so glad to see this post. I full heartedly agree. But by the grace of God, the social worker could have easily been killed too. Her life is changed forever, for doing her best, doing what she was told to do. She needs our prayers and I pray that from heaven Susan and the boys will be able to protect her, guide her and insist that she not feel responsible.
It is the all mighty $$$$ (which this lady probably barely made a living on) but the value on 'cost effectiveness, cost savings, low cost' MUST STOP being how laws and guidelines are written. The system is what must change. If it changes, then Susan and her boys will be honored in their death and in some small way their death can have meaning.....if nothing is learned or changed, then we as a society have failed.

(At least now we can call him a murderer finally, without violating TOS!)

 

[passionflower]

Did Josh finaly get a job?
How could he afford the rental? the van?

 

[mikeysmommom]

Supervised visitation SHOULD mean just that, like you meet us at McDonalds, but i guess if one was so determined they would use whatever means they could to accomplish this crime...I know hindsight is always 20/20 but I cant help but be so angry for the loss of those innocent children.

What a coward! and a Killer if he can do this we can assume the worse for poor Susan.

In NJ Supervised visitation means meeting in a room in a Court house,which has metal detectors and armed guards.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

I don't think this fire burned for hours. They said it was moving fast. Also the neighbors say they heard explosions, so clearly something blew up inside there (if the neighbors are correct, and I fail to see why neighbors would lie).

I fail to see why LE or the social worker would lie either.


Perhaps they are ALL being truthful.

The neighbors heard the explosion.

Before the walls and windows were gone, the social worker beat on them. Desperate and terrified.

The LE spokesperson is giving information the LE believe to be the truth IMO.

 

[Kimberlyd125]

Kimster - I am so glad to see this post. I full heartedly agree. But by the grace of God, the social worker could have easily been killed too. Her life is changed forever, for doing her best, doing what she was told to do. She needs our prayers and I pray that from heaven Susan and the boys will be able to protect her, guide her and insist that she not feel responsible.
It is the all mighty $$$$ (which this lady probably barely made a living on) but the value on 'cost effectiveness, cost savings, low cost' MUST STOP being how laws and guidelines are written. The system is what must change. If it changes, then Susan and her boys will be honored in their death and in some small way their death can have meaning.....if nothing is learned or changed, then we as a society have failed.

(At least now we can call him a murderer finally, without violating TOS!)

This is a GREAT post!

 

[wenwe4]

CPS SocialWorker was supervising, Josh pushed her away from entering the house, locked the door with himself and the boys inside and blew the place up.
I read that the SW was banging on the doors and windows as the house was on fire.

I realize that MSM has reported it was a "CPS Social worker" that was supervising the visits, however I believe this was a misquote. Typically, in Washington State the Supervised visits between parents and children are contracted out to other providers (not actual CPS workers). I heard on news reports that the Visitation Supervisor was working for an agency called "fostering connections". More than likely was being paid $9 or $10 per hour. Her job was to document what happened during the visits, but not to intervene unless absolutely necessary. I cannot imagine what she is enduring emotionally at this point in time. My heart goes out to her as well as the Cox family.

Visitation supervisors typically transport the children to and from their visits with family members, supervise the visits to ensure child safety (and are only allowed to interevene if there is a real child endangerment issue like the parent beating/hitting the child . . . only then can they stop the visit). Court orders must be followed and Federal Law specifically outlines that parents must be offered the least restrictive alternatives to visiting with their children regularly. The fact that the visits were taking place in Josh's home vs. at a visitation center or out in the community (ie: McDonalds or a park) tells me that Josh's home passed a health and safety inspection for the children to be allowed to be there.

 

[jjenny]

I fail to see why LE or the social worker would lie either.


Perhaps they are ALL being truthful.

The neighbors heard the explosion.

Before the walls and windows were gone, the social worker beat on them. Desperate and terrified.

The LE spokesperson is giving information the LE believe to be the truth IMO.

I fail to see where I accused anyone of lying. The claim the worker beat on the walls after the explosion and fire contradicts other claims that she beat on the door so he'd let her in before the fire, then went to her car to call her supervisor. I frankly don't know what she actually says but I can figure out what is more believable.

 

[mamamia54]

I don't think this fire burned for hours. They said it was moving fast. Also the neighbors say they heard explosions, so clearly something blew up inside there (if the neighbors are correct, and I fail to see why neighbors would lie).

The fire department first heard of the explosion in nearby Puyallup around 12:45 p.m. (3:45 p.m. ET), according to Franz. It was eventually determined that the home belonged to Powell.

Franz said a case worker had brought Powell's two boys to the residence for a visit.

As the children got close to the door, Powell got them inside but prevented the case worker from getting in as well, according to the deputy chief.

The case worker reported smelling something similar to gas, said Franz. About two minutes later, as she was calling her supervisor, the house exploded.

While the once "large fire" had abated by around 2 p.m., Franz said that authorities were still working to "get the fire completely extinguished."

http://current.com/community/936506...plosion-at-home-of-missing-womans-husband.htm