A Judge denied Josh Powell custody this past week until after he underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation. His children were 5 year-old Braden and 7 year-old Charles. Josh Powell Killed his children with a hatchet before the explosion…….

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-national/20120206/US.Missing.Mom.Utah/?cid=hero_media

A Pierce County Sheriff’s deputy and Graham Firefighters work around the smoldering remains of a house near Fredrickson, Wash., Sunday, Feb. 5, 2012, where, according to a sheriff’s spokesman, three bodies were were found. The bodies are believed to be Josh Powell and his two sons. The explosion occurred moments after a Child Protective Services worker brought the two boys to the home for a supervised visit. (AP Photo/The News Tribune, Peter Haley)

GRAHAM, Wash. — Days after a judge ruled against him in a child custody hearing, a father and his two young sons were killed Sunday when police said he appeared to intentionally blow up a house with all three inside – a tragic ending to a bizarre case that began more than two years ago when the man’s wife went mysteriously missing in Utah.

A social worker brought the two boys to Josh Powell’s home for what was to be a supervised visit, and Powell let his sons inside – but then blocked the social worker from entering, Graham Fire and Rescue Chief Gary Franz told The Associated Press.

The social worker called her supervisors to report that she could smell gas, and moments later the home exploded.

Sgt. Ed Troyer, Pierce County sheriff’s spokesman, said emails that Powell sent authorities seemed to confirm that Powell planned the deadly blast. Troyer didn’t elaborate on the contents of the emails, but said they make police believe “this is intentional, this is planned.”

Authorities said they found three bodies in the home late Sunday afternoon as fire crews and police continued to search the rubble. Troyer said it appeared some sort of accelerant was used to make the house burn faster.

Jeffrey Bassett, who represented Powell in the custody case, said he received a brief email from his client just minutes before Powell and the two boys died. It said, “I’m sorry, goodbye.”

The email arrived at 12:05 p.m. Sunday, about 10 minutes before the explosion, but he didn’t see it until two hours later, when others told him Josh and the boys had been killed. He said he knew Josh was upset after being ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation recently, but he didn’t see this coming.

Powell was under investigation in the disappearance of his 28-year-old wife Susan from their West Valley City, Utah, home in December 2009. He claimed he had taken the boys on a midnight excursion in freezing temperatures when she vanished.

The children, 5-year-old Braden and 7-year-old Charles, had been living with Susan Powell’s parents since Josh Powell’s father, Steven, was arrested on child porn and voyeurism charges last fall. On Wednesday, a judge had denied an attempt by Josh Powell to regain custody, saying she wouldn’t consider returning the two boys to their father until he underwent a psycho-sexual evaluation.