'Terrified' 911 Callers Describe Josh Powell House Explosion

As she watched Josh Powell's house engulfed in flames, the child services worker who brought his two young sons to the home for a supervised visit told a 911 operator she believed he intentionally blew up the house, killing himself and his children.

That same day, Powell's distraught sister, Alina Powell, called 911 to say she was receiving "weird" messages from her brother via email and voicemail that made her too "terrified to drive over there" herself.

"I'm not afraid of him," she told the emergency operator through sobs. "He's never hurt me. I'm afraid of seeing something I don't want to see."

What actually was happening may have been even more terrifying than she could have imagined.

The frantic child services worker told the 911 operator that she brought the two boys to Josh Powell's home for the visit, but after he let the boys into the house he "slammed the door in [her] face" and then the house exploded.

"There's two little boys in the house and they're 5 and 7, and there's an adult man, and he has supervised visits, and he blew up the house and the kids," said the woman, who identified herself as Elizabeth Griffin-Hall, a Child Protective Services officer.

When the 911 operator asked her if she believed he did it "intentionally," she answered, "Yes."

Among the six other other tapes released today was the call from Alina Powell.

"He left me a voicemail," she said. "He said something about [how] he can't live without his sons and goodbye."

ABC News has exclusively obtained what is believed to be Josh Powell's final words to his loved ones, the voicemail he left for his family just 20 minutes before attacking his two young boys, Braden, 5, and Charles, 7, with a hatchet and igniting a gas leak that blew up his house on Sunday afternoon.

"I am not able to live without my sons, and I'm not able to go on anymore. I'm sorry to everyone I've hurt. Goodbye," the voicemail message said.

Police had called Josh Powell a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, Susan Powell, who he claimed went missing from their Utah home after he and his then 2- and 4-year-old sons went on a midnight camping trip in December 2009.

He was never arrested or charged, but he lost custody of his sons after his father, Steven Powell, was arrested in September and charged with 14 counts of voyeurism and one count of child pornography. The pornographic images were kept in the home the two men shared with Josh and Susan Powell's boys.

At a custody hearing last week, a judge said Josh Powell would have to undergo a psychosexual exam before he could get his kids back.

The tapes of the CPS worker and Alina Powell were among seven released today. The rest recorded the frantic, fearful voices of people who heard the explosion, saw the house engulfed in flames and called 911.

A female neighbor told the 911 operator that there was "a loud, huge boom. And there's crap flying all over the place, dark smoke."

"Fire. Fire. There's a house on fire. Explosion," a male neighbor said. "The house is totally engulfed in fire, from front to back."

Also Read
 

42 comments

  • Betsy  •  Salt Lake City, Utah  •  3 months ago
    Alina Powell, "I'm not afraid of him," she told the emergency operator through sobs. "He's never hurt me. I'm afraid of seeing something I don't want to see."

    He killed his wife. He used a hatchet on his sons then blew them up. I would be very afraid of the monster. She was spot on about seeing something she did not want to see.

    I hope the crazy Powells stay away from the Coxes. They have been traumatized enough by the family. They certainly do not need to hear how it is everyone else's fault that Josh did this.
  • TxGal512  •  3 months ago
    If any parent sympathizes with Josh Powell, or feels the same way as Josh Powell, please get professional help. If you agree that circumstances can lead a person as yourself or someone else you know to do this type of act, then you agree that it could be a possiblty that you can snap too. People get divorces all the time, people lose jobs, People break up all the time, people become "missing" all the time, just read the news everyday. People are sick. ... Do you feel pressure to take people out? Get help now before its too late
    • MissCindy 3 months ago
      The "thumbs down" on your post is very, very scary. Something very dark is lurking in this person's mind.
    • Robin 3 months ago
      Now lets see what his crazy daddy has to say, they both are weird and I have no doubt he was probably molested by his father and that Dad has something to do with his Wife's disappearance also. this case is just plain twisted
    • SAM49 3 months ago
      Unfortunately, people do snap. In this case, only God knows the truth. We can make only informed guesses.
  • MissCindy  •  3 months ago
    Utah missed every single opportunity available to save these little boys......... There has probably never been as bad a handling of a potential murder of children than this one -- from the moment the young mother disappeared to the resulting murder-suicide.
  • Fairfax Student Body  •  Seattle, Washington  •  3 months ago
    What's the qualification and training for 911 Operators??? Most of these people are so totally useless, it's incredible!!! Listen to the entire 6+ minute 911 call and you wont believe what you hear!!!
    • Telescope 3 months ago
      Where can you listen to it?
  • kenya1  •  3 months ago
    And what would make you think that this man did not get rid of his wife? if he can plot all this, then he is a perfect candidate for murder. its a pity he was not tamed early enough. May the beautiful angels RIP.
    • Helen 3 months ago
      Some people or kids aren't tameable. Especially if they are wired differently. But I agree that this man was capable of harming his wife and to my way of thinking, his act on Sunday proved it to me.
    • Dee 3 months ago
      the Mormon Bishop should be held responsible also. According to one interview he told her that she needed to make him come back to Temple or leave him and take the boys. That probably set him off also not that he wasn't already a ticking bomb but being pushed into going back to Temple when he didn't want to didn't help any. RIP little ones know that you will find your mother and be comforted
  • Linda  •  Monroe, Louisiana  •  3 months ago
    i dont believe in killing yourself, but if you are going to do it, do it. dont involve your children it it.
  • Mariah  •  3 months ago
    Oh, so now we read that powell's sister called 911 prior and gave the cops a "heads up"? Did they follow thru on it though??
  • TxGal512  •  3 months ago
    Now that the calls are released, the people making negative comments aginst the socal worker not calling 911 when she arrived can just read the articles when more evidence is released before making judgements aganst her. She was on the 911 call at least 7 minutes and the 911 worker was the one without the urgency, not the social worker. May they rest in peace and God protect over them, the families, and friends in this time of need.
  • bling2  •  3 months ago
    These 911 people, do they even know the severity of an emergency situation? These poorkids did not have to die had they responded to the call of the case worker.
  • grammasandi  •  Spokane, Washington  •  3 months ago
    I saw the grandmother on tv, the kids did not want to go, they had no say in the matter. heartbreaking.
  • Jeanette  •  San Antonio, Texas  •  3 months ago
    I posted something about this a couple of days ago. Three guys (idiots, I mean) dissed me for saying the dad was obviously mentally ill. I LIVED with my mentally ill husband for three years after he went over the edge. It was the worst time in my life and my daughter's life as well. You guys who said "the women always act sanctimonious" are full of crap. Don't judge me. Look in the mirror when you speak such #$%$ and keep your hatred of women to yourself. We go thru enough without your peanut gallery mentality.
    • knows the truth 3 months ago
      Yes, he was mentally ill. anyone that kills their kids is pure evil or mentally ill. Look at the father that raised him. He had a slim to zero chance of normal.
    • Russ 3 months ago
      the way laws are against all men in every state i cannot believe this does not happen more often, but i have to say this man will rot in hell and deserves to.
  • JulieMC  •  Chantilly, Virginia  •  3 months ago
    Am I the only one who wants to strangle the stupid 911 operator?!?!?!? What a condescending jerk! I hope he feels like crap...read the entire transcript of the social worker's first call to 911, it'll infuriate you!!!
  • Aisling  •  Kanab, Utah  •  3 months ago
    i dont like what josh powell did to his kids. if he didnt want to live without them, he still should not have taken two innocent lil boys lives along with his own. and the stupid dispatcher should be fired and charges brought against her too for not sending help when the cps worker called, right away
    • Sam Aritan 3 months ago
      HIM - the dispatcher was a MAN.
    • Aisling 2 months ago
      gawd, so i made a mistake.
  • Rosie  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  3 months ago
    Rot in HELL Josh Powell... you are #$%$ of the earth!
  • Yodadoll  •  Ypsilanti, Michigan  •  3 months ago
    I dont understand how the SL Police could allow this animal to maintain custody of the children after the midnight camping trip in the beginning. There needs to be a law passed that the other parent of a missing parent cannot have custody if suspected. Tragic!
  • Sim  •  3 months ago
    even animals don't kill their children
    look at his face, very sad and psycho, the 2 lovely kids had been living in hell when they are alive
  • A Yahoo! User  •  Chicago, Illinois  •  3 months ago
    un friggen believable, the social worker pleads with 911 for 8 minutes to send help quickly, that she smells gasoline and fears for their lives, and only after a flood of calls by neighbor that the house exploded, do the send help and they arrive in 3 minutes? So, if they would have sent help right away, these boys could have been saved. UN FRIGGEN BELIEVABLE!
  • gov_matters  •  3 months ago
    Caller: My friend appears to be dead!
    911 operator: Sir calm down and make sure your friend is dead!
    Caller: OK! Foot steps heard, then a gun shot.
    911 operator: Sir! Sir!
    Caller: He is dead now!
  • knows the truth  •  3 months ago
    After hearing that call, the person one the other end of the phone and the cop that said that can not respond immediately, should be placed on file duty and NOT be allowed to handle 911 calls. If they hade gone immediately those babies might be alive today.
  • viennaroast789  •  3 months ago
    I would like to have a supervised visit between my SKS and Josh Powell