Husband. Antisocial. Father. Awkward. Person of Interest. Erratic. Loving. Controlling. Abusive.
All are words that have been used to describe Josh Powell, 36, but there is only one that will forever be associated with his name.
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Murderer.
Powell took his own life, and that of his two sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, when he set his Washington state home on fire with all three inside Sunday afternoon.
Not only did he leave a gaping hole in the lives of those who knew and loved his sons, but he may have created a permanent question mark over the disappearance of his wife, Susan Cox Powell, who vanished in 2009. Any answers in that case may have gone up with the billowing, black smoke over the town of Graham.
Home life • Josh Powell grew up in the town of Puyallup, Wash. He attended Rogers High School with his future wife, Susan Cox, but it wasn’t until the two went to a singles ward activity of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that they met. They married a short while later, in April 2001, at the Portland LDS temple.
They found an apartment together a few miles away from her parents.
The couple managed an assisted-living facility for a while in Washington, but they weren’t making enough to start a family.
His parents-in-law, Chuck and Judy Cox, thought of him as having an odd sense of humor and being somewhat off-beat, but they just chalked it up to him being himself. They grew frustrated, though, as the couple began showing up hours late to family functions, a departure from their daughter’s normal behavior. They describe him as easily losing track of time and acting on the spur of the moment.
Silently, the Coxes wondered if their son-in-law might have had a mental illness, knowing he had a relative who suffered from bipolar disorder. But they kept quiet, trying to lend support to their daughter’s new marriage.
The couple moved to Utah in about 2004 to be closer to Josh Powell’s mother and two sisters, who had earlier moved to the state.
At their West Valley City home, Josh Powell would teach neighbor kids basic woodworking skills. He enjoyed playing with radio-controlled cars, gardening and landscaping.
He operated a home-based business called Polished Marketing that created Web sites and logos for business. He also worked as a computer programmer for a trucking and warehousing company.
As time went on, religion began to become a point of contention for the couple. Susan continued to attend church regularly, but Josh’s attendance became increasingly sporadic. Their financial situation also began adding strain. In a bankruptcy filing, Josh Powell listed more than $200,000 in credit card, furniture, student loan and other debts. Those debts began taking their tolls on the marriage.
Losing control • Even before the pressures of the bankruptcy, Susan Powell’s friends were counseling her to leave her husband. He had become increasingly controlling and emotionally abusive.
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