Josh Powell's Final Message: 'I Am Not Able to Live Without My Sons'

I am sure it IS hard to live without your children - but only a selfish SOB - would not
allow these babies the chance to experience life for themselves. The joy of a girlfriend,
graduating, your first job, your first car, first ballgame, so many first - they will never know.

When is our system going to learn that if they have to have supervised visits that means that they don't think it's a safe enviorment so why chance it? I'm so sorry to Judy and Chuck for their loss of not only their daughter but their grandchildren. I can't even imagine what they're going through. My prayers and thoughts are with your family. I hope you find their your daughter and I hope that they put Josh's father behind bars.

His sister is just unreal-she is actually blaming everyone else-instead of her brother who murdered his own two sons out of spite and jealousy, and the father who shoulders most of the blame for bringing such circumstances on her brother in the first place. The more people from the family(and friends) comment, the more you can see this guy was a loser in the xtreme. Even his best friend says he only cared about himself. "I can't live without my boys."

funny. they sure seem like they could have lived just fine without you! Of course, we'll never know that now since you are such a loser in death as you were in life. Its so plainly obvious either he or his father had something to do with his wife's disappearance and that if the kids had lived they would have eventually fingered him or his father in some way-so better to off them so no one ever knows where their mommy went. The whole family sounds like there are screws loose or missing. Yeah, he loved his kids so much he hacked at them with an ax before setting him and the house they were in on fire. Yeah, sister, its because of crushing hate. not the fact your brother was an immature murdering loser. get a grip.

He couldn't live without his sons so they couldn't live either?? Those boys could've had a long life, could've grown up to be something amazing. They could've made a positive impact on this world. For all he knew, one or both of those boys could've grown up to become the President of the United States or something. But he had to rip their future away from them because he was so selfish!

This story broke my heart when I read about it yesterday. Now knowing that this man tried to kill the kids before blowing them up, but didn't suceed, its just sickening. I wish I didn't know about this because I will probably not stop thinking about it. So very sad.

Supervised visits should be done at a secure location such as the Sheriff's department and the supervised parent should be searched before entering and deputies present. Apparently should not be left up to Child PROTECTIVE Services to PROTECT the children.

It would be understandable if he had grief over the fear of losing his sons, but it is complete ego-driven selfishness that drove him to take those boys with him. He may not have been able to live without them, but it is apparent that the only way THEY would have lived is without him. He isn't sorry. He is a child murderer.

The mere fact that he brutally murdered his children with a hatchet demonstrates he was very angry and vindictive individual. How can anyone say they love their children so much, that they cannot live without them do such a violent act. I cannot imagine the horror those kids may have been going through during their last minutes of life. Make no mistake, this was not a act of a "innocent man" being harrased to a breaking point.

He loved his sons so much that he...."[attacked] his two young boys Braden, 5, and Charles, 7, with a hatchet" Under whose definition would ANYONE consider that love? He murdered his children because they knew he killed mommy...evil, pure evil. I hope he feels the flames for eturnity - and even that is not long enough.

The 2 people your children trust and admire the most are their parents. How could ANY person let alone a parent hatchet their children? The saddest part is these poor kids.

I watched my daughter go through a divorce a few years ago in a situation very similar to this. The judges , social works , attorneys pay no attention people like this guy. They use no logical common sense , just what the letter of the law reads. This kind of senseless killing happens every day in this country. It makes me sick.

What an evil spineless coward. He took something that he did not OWN. Your children do not BELONG to you, they belong to themselves. People need to read Kalil Gibran's book, 'The Prophet'. You are responsible to raise and nurture those children, but they are not your property. When I look at him, I don't see mental illness, I see murderous rage, a demonic figure willing to kill to satisfy his own lust. It doesn't matter what his twisted reasons were, he knew right from wrong.

Poor Kids!! I am so torn by the way things happened. Wheather the dad should have had costody or the state take the kids away, NO kid should have to go through that. But, if I were to loose costody to my kids, i'd want them to live a life, rather than for me to rob them of it. That was pure selfishness of Josh. Curse all of you who think of yourself first before your kids. You brought your kids into this world, you need to be selfless and make sure they get to live life fully as you had.

I am the father of a small child and I too have tears in my eyes as I read this. Unbelievable. I was shocked yesterday when I thought he just let them burn in an explosion...but to swing a hatchet multiple times at them? Think about that...one kid had to watch it happen to the other before it happend to him. And then the fact that they died from smoke inhalation???? Are you kidding me??
He didnt even kill them with the hatchet!! He mortally wounded them, inflicting horrible pain, then they choked to death while laying helplessly bleeding.

This is without a doubt the most heinous thing I've read about in many years.

I can't beleive his sister is trying to blame other people for what this psychopath did. He murdered THREE people. HE is the killer, not hate. For Christ's sake, the whole family is totally sc/r/e/wed in the head.

Insane.How many warning signs does it take for the local,state or federal authority to advocate for those poor kids -or is Washington, in general,so "baked" that it can't move ?

yeah, you might not be able to live without your sons, but I assure you, they could have lived without you. It' sad, pathetic, and disgraceful when parents take their children down with them...

Also, I'd be interested in hearing where is the paternal grandmother in all of this. Anyone know or heard anything? If she divorced Steven, I'd like to know what was that story about. And where is she now (not that it is any of my business)?

There's a special place in hell, waiting on him..

It bothers me how everyone in this story that was on the father's side (in particular, his sister)is pointing a finger at everyone else for what happened. There is no excuse for what was done. This is not a case of a father having his children "ripped away from him" by an unjust court system. From what the children were remembering and saying, he killed their mother. Plain and simple, then moved them into a house with a convicted voyer/pedifile. I'm sorry, but, YES, you're kids should be taken away given those two circumstances, espcially if you've been tied to the grandfather's pornography. I do not feel sorry that he couldn't handle the stress of the hatred that was spat at him given the things he had done. Furthermore...he went after both boys with a hatchet and then blew them up, people! The guys was obviously NOT A FIT FATHER and this was not a case of the government sticking their nose somewhere it didn't belong. Actually, I wish they could have been even more intrusive. Perhaps those boys would still be alive. Truely a sad and unique case and my prayers go out to the innocent.