Powell family wants Josh to be burried near his sons

Josh Powell’s surviving relatives want him buried at the same cemetery as the two young sons he killed, the city manager in Puyallup said Wednesday.

Powell’s relatives visited the public Woodbine Cemetery and selected a plot about 25 feet away, just across a road from the boys, City Manager Ralph Dannenberg told The Associated Press. They haven’t paid for it yet, and any sale is being put on hold because the parents of Powell’s missing wife have promised legal action.
“We don’t have any rules or procedures regarding refusing plots to anyone,” Dannenberg said. “We’re going to wait to see what the outcome is in court.”

Attorney Anne Bremner, who represents Susan Powell’s parents, Charles and Judy Cox, says that while the cemetery is public, and cannot refuse the burial, they could raise concerns over the potential concern of public safety. “Defacing of the gravemarker, people urinating on the grave – we’ve already seen those sorts of comments out there; unauthorized removal of remains to an undisclosed location.”

Powell was a suspect in Susan Powell’s 2009 disappearance from their home in West Valley City, Utah. He attacked his sons with a hatchet and exploded his house in a gas-fueled blaze, killing himself and the two boys on Feb. 5.

The boys were laid to rest in a single casket at Woodbine on Saturday, with more than 1,000 mourners in attendance, and the Coxes hope to bury Susan Powell there too if her remains are ever found.

Bremner says she will seek a temporary restraining order to block Josh Powell from being buried there. She said she could pursue claims against the city for emotional wrongs and outrage on behalf of the Coxes if the burial goes forward.

“For him to be buried near those kids is just unthinkable,” Bremner said. “For God’s sake, for them to lose Susan first, and then the boys, and now this? Just give these people a break.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.