Laurie Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Her infamous father-in-law has died. https://komonews.com/news/local/sheriff-steven-powell-dies-at-tacoma-hospital I can't imagine the agony her parents have experienced because of the Powell family. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyhwkmama Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 Evil, evil, evil. So awful for her family. The pain must be unbearable, even today. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I do believe there is a hell. he was sick and twisted, and warped his children. (except for jennifer - the only one who grew up with their mother.) he was never going to talk. he liked the power. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pink and Green Mom Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I remember following the twists and turns to this story. I never thought her father in law would talk. I feel so sorry for her parents, and the terrible loss of their daughter and grandsons at the hands of two complete psychopaths. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Selkie Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 What a sickening story. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
umsami Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 I hope she is in heaven with her babies, and the father and son are in hell. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 24, 2018 Share Posted July 24, 2018 This brought back memories of the case when it hit the news but I never realized what a sick family this was. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 For those who didn't follow it. Josh had been ordered to have a psychosexual evaluation. And the boys were starting to talk about what happened that night. He only had supervised visitation. He was a control freak. The really sad thing is her bishop and others in Utah tried to get her to leave. And offered to pay her way so she could. She was too afraid of what he'd do if she did. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 I’ve always been appalled he was awarded even those supervised visits. At most they should have required him to come to the DSHS office to have a supervised visit in a controlled environment where he couldn’t have killed them. Or how about this? Not make these kids visit someone who probably killed their mother. Imagine a world where the kids come first. 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 4 hours ago, LucyStoner said: I’ve always been appalled he was awarded even those supervised visits. At most they should have required him to come to the DSHS office to have a supervised visit in a controlled environment where he couldn’t have killed them. Or how about this? Not make these kids visit someone who probably killed their mother. Imagine a world where the kids come first. It will require constitutional changes to give children rights. Right now from a legal perspective children are their parents property. Unless there was evidence of child abuse that could not be overcome, he unfortunately had constitutional rights for the state to not interfere. The constitution is the single most frustrating part of foster care. Once some threshold of states interfering with parenting has been met, people should start doing what is in the best interest of the child. We've had SO MANY social workers tell us that after a case was resolved they were privately pulling for whatever we all thought was best for a child, but at the time their hands and mouths were tied by the law. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 7 hours ago, Katy said: It will require constitutional changes to give children rights. Right now from a legal perspective children are their parents property. Unless there was evidence of child abuse that could not be overcome, he unfortunately had constitutional rights for the state to not interfere. The constitution is the single most frustrating part of foster care. Once some threshold of states interfering with parenting has been met, people should start doing what is in the best interest of the child. We've had SO MANY social workers tell us that after a case was resolved they were privately pulling for whatever we all thought was best for a child, but at the time their hands and mouths were tied by the law. I am well aware of this. I am also tired, very tired, of seeing the fall out of the primacy of parental rights when it comes to families where the one or both parents have no business being parents. Child abuse isn’t a rare or isolated phenomena. We should be better prepared to deal with it. We should see the impact that DV has on kids. We do not, and in our failures we perpetuate the abuse cycle on to future generations. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 13 hours ago, LucyStoner said: I’ve always been appalled he was awarded even those supervised visits. At most they should have required him to come to the DSHS office to have a supervised visit in a controlled environment where he couldn’t have killed them. Or how about this? Not make these kids visit someone who probably killed their mother. Imagine a world where the kids come first. This is a stunner indeed. We do supervised visits at DHHS for a lot less than violent behavior. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanaqui Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 Quote The really sad thing is her bishop and others in Utah tried to get her to leave. And offered to pay her way so she could. She was too afraid of what he'd do if she did. She was right to be afraid. The most dangerous time to be an abused spouse is the year after they leave. Gambling on staying may have been a mistake, but leaving might not have done any good anyway ? 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 13 hours ago, LucyStoner said: I’ve always been appalled he was awarded even those supervised visits. At most they should have required him to come to the DSHS office to have a supervised visit in a controlled environment where he couldn’t have killed them. Or how about this? Not make these kids visit someone who probably killed their mother. Imagine a world where the kids come first. Refresh my memory here: So he was never convicted but was a suspect? If there was no other abuse documented, he would get visitation and this is horrifying but it's all about what is documented and proven. However, I think a county SW who is diligent could have insisted on DHHS site visits before community visits would be considered - at least in CA. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 18 minutes ago, Liz CA said: Refresh my memory here: So he was never convicted but was a suspect? If there was no other abuse documented, he would get visitation and this is horrifying but it's all about what is documented and proven. However, I think a county SW who is diligent could have insisted on DHHS site visits before community visits would be considered - at least in CA. in seattle - things were coming out really fast in overlapping jurisdictions. (seems like a bunch of stuff happened within a week. - and the info was still being processed.). they'd found pedophile type drawings (not technically kiddie p**n because they were drawings) on josh's computer (as part of the investigation into the father's accusations (later conviction) - all computers in the house were seized). - so this was a different judge overseeing that case than the one overseeing the custody case and the investigators overseeing the missing person case. utah was in charge of the missing person case - and they were going very slowly as they didn't want to blow the case. they wanted him convicted. i don't remember if they'd even formally named him as a suspect. they only had circumstantial evidence - but the boys were beginning to talk about what happened that night. it's so easy to 20/20 armchair quarterback. even if they were all cooperating, the bureaucracy of getting information between jurisdictions isn't particularly fast. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 hour ago, Liz CA said: Refresh my memory here: So he was never convicted but was a suspect? If there was no other abuse documented, he would get visitation and this is horrifying but it's all about what is documented and proven. However, I think a county SW who is diligent could have insisted on DHHS site visits before community visits would be considered - at least in CA. He’d lost custody to the maternal grandparents. It takes a lot to lose custody to a non-parent relative. It wasn’t a situation where he was merely a suspect, there were DV and other factors. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liz CA Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 1 minute ago, LucyStoner said: He’d lost custody to the maternal grandparents. It takes a lot to lose custody to a non-parent relative. It wasn’t a situation where he was merely a suspect, there were DV and other factors. The supervised visit should not have been at his house, they could have easily demanded that it be at a state office. Wow that does change the picture. If there was documented DV, there would have been supervised visits only at a DHHS facility in my county. Also, if parental rights were already terminated, was this supposed to be a good-bye visit? In CA, typically once PR are terminated, visits do not continue unless there are ordered sibling visits with whoever has custody of any sibling(s). So heartbreaking for the grandparents who lost their daughter and also their grandchildren. I just cannot imagine... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LucyStoner Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 2 minutes ago, Liz CA said: Wow that does change the picture. If there was documented DV, there would have been supervised visits only at a DHHS facility in my county. Also, if parental rights were already terminated, was this supposed to be a good-bye visit? In CA, typically once PR are terminated, visits do not continue unless there are ordered sibling visits with whoever has custody of any sibling(s). So heartbreaking for the grandparents who lost their daughter and also their grandchildren. I just cannot imagine... He hadn’t lost parental rights, his ILs had won primary care and custody though. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 25, 2018 Share Posted July 25, 2018 I remember that story! And both boys committed suicide? I hadn't realized that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jyhwkmama Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 44 minutes ago, DawnM said: I remember that story! And both boys committed suicide? I hadn't realized that. He committed suicide and killed his kids by blowing them up in their house. Evil. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 4 minutes ago, Jyhwkmama said: He committed suicide and killed his kids by blowing them up in their house. Evil. No, I am saying he committed suicide and his brother committed suicide. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 4 hours ago, Liz CA said: Wow that does change the picture. If there was documented DV, there would have been supervised visits only at a DHHS facility in my county. Also, if parental rights were already terminated, was this supposed to be a good-bye visit? In CA, typically once PR are terminated, visits do not continue unless there are ordered sibling visits with whoever has custody of any sibling(s). So heartbreaking for the grandparents who lost their daughter and also their grandchildren. I just cannot imagine... rights hadn't been terminated. that was in process - after finding the dirty drawings on his computer was why he'd had the psychs3xual evaluation ordered - less than a week before he killed himself and his sons. it seems to have been the final trigger. part of the reason he got that last supervised visit was the latest information hadn't gotten "registered" with the family court. ( he didn't let the cps agent in the house, pushed her back and locked the door after the boys were in the house). she smelled gas and tried to get in and tried to call 911. fortunately - she was away from the house when it blew or she probably would have died too. 3 hours ago, DawnM said: No, I am saying he committed suicide and his brother committed suicide. thoughts are michael had helped move susan's body after it became clear to them josh's story was so lame (camping in a blizzard with toddlers?) that police were starting to search the area. at least he seems to have had some conscience that he couldn't live with that. the father destroyed two of his sons,, not to mention what josh did. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DawnM Posted July 26, 2018 Share Posted July 26, 2018 6 hours ago, gardenmom5 said: rights hadn't been terminated. that was in process - after finding the dirty drawings on his computer was why he'd had the psychs3xual evaluation ordered - less than a week before he killed himself and his sons. it seems to have been the final trigger. part of the reason he got that last supervised visit was the latest information hadn't gotten "registered" with the family court. ( he didn't let the cps agent in the house, pushed her back and locked the door after the boys were in the house). she smelled gas and tried to get in and tried to call 911. fortunately - she was away from the house when it blew or she probably would have died too. thoughts are michael had helped move susan's body after it became clear to them josh's story was so lame (camping in a blizzard with toddlers?) that police were starting to search the area. at least he seems to have had some conscience that he couldn't live with that. the father destroyed two of his sons,, not to mention what josh did. Yes, I read that. That was one very messed up family. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.