PUYALLUP, Washington (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- There truly is evil in this world and Josh Powell has proved it in the acts he carried out against his children Sunday afternoon.
The Pierce County Medical Examiner issued a statement Monday afternoon saying that Josh Powell murdered his two young sons by "chops to the neck" as well as carbon monoxide poisoning preceeding an explosion.
The police and the medical examiner said Josh, 36, failed to kill Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, but "wounded them horribly" before they died. They had smoke in their lungs from the gas-fueled explosion set by their father Sunday.
Before the public was aware of the horrific way in which Josh murdered his sons, they were calling him "evil" and warning people not to minimize what happened to Charlie and Braden by calling this a "tragedy."
Police said today that just days before he killed himself and his children, Josh had given away his children's toys and books. He sent long emails to friends, family members and his pastor detailing what to do with his money, house utilities, and other aspects of his life.
Pierce County Sheriff's Deputy Ed Troyer said he delivered the blows to his children's neck with a hatchet or small ax. ABC News reports he tried to "kill them with a hatchet before the flames of the fiery explosion he had ignited engulfed them all" police said today.
On Sunday, Josh Powell, husband of missing mom Susan Cox Powell, dragged their two young sons into his rental home in Graham, Washington when they arrived for a court-ordered supervised visit.
He then set the house on fire using two five-gallon cans of gasoline. The blast leveled the home and sent ash flying onto neighbor's rooftops.
Click here for more on Susan's story.
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