PUYALLUP, Washington (Isabelle Zehnder reporting) -- It has been confirmed that Josh Powell was cremated Friday.
Josh is the husband of missing Utah mom Susan Cox Powell. The public protested his burial near his two young sons who he beat in the head and neck with a hatchet then set on fire two weeks ago.
Inside Edition obtained Josh’s death certificate Tuesday which confirmed he was cremated. Click here for a copy of the official Certificate of Death.
The cause of death was carbon monoxide poisoning, the manner of death suicide, the date of death Feb. 5, 2012, and the time of death 12:14 p.m.
The controversy of where Josh would be buried came after Josh’s family attempted to purchase a plot in the cemetery where his young sons, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, were buried.
After hours of negotiations between family members last week, Josh's family conceded that they would not bury Josh near his sons at the Woodbine Cemetery in Puyallup, Washington.
Josh's family decided instead to cremate him last Friday. They did not disclose where his remains were taken following the cremation.
Pierce County Sheriff's spokesman Det. Ed Troyer told Examiner.com last week that the family had chosen a plot that overlooked where the boys were buried about 25 to 30 yards away.
The public strongly protested Josh being buried anywhere near the children he brutally murdered.
On Feb. 5, just days after a custody hearing where Josh was ordered to take a psychosexual evaluation with polygraph, he lured his youngs sons into his home during what was to be a supervised visit at his rental home.
The public is outraged that the courts, CPS, and/or DSHS would allow the visits to take place in an environment Josh controlled when they knew he was the only person of interest in his missing wife's case and had just been ordered to take a very intrusive and extensive test that some say pushed him over the brink.
Susan went missing from her West Valley City, Utah home in early December 2009. Within weeks of her disappearance Susan’s husband, Josh Powell, packed their belongings and two young sons and moved to his father, Steve Powell’s, home in Puyallup, Washington. A move Susan’s friends and family have long said she would not have wanted for her children.
Josh and his children lived with Steve until his arrest on September 22, 2011. The children were removed from Josh’s custody that day, placed into state custody, and eventually placed into the temporary custody of their maternal grandparents, Chuck and Judy Cox.
Josh was the only named person of interest in Susan’s disappearance until he took his life and the lives of his two young children, Charlie, 7, and Braden, 5, when on Feb. 5, 2012, he doused his rental home with 10 gallons of gasoline, beat his children with a hatchet, then set them all on fire in what police say was a double-murder-suicide.
Steve Powell was named a person of interest in Susan’s disappearance after the deaths of his grandchildren and eldest son.
Click here for more on Susan's story.
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