Pierce County Washington Sheriff Paul Pastor and Sergeant Ed Troyer announced their plans to use a combination of personal money and funds from the Crimestoppers for Tacoma -Pierce County to buy the cemetery plots on either side of Charlie and Braden Powell. The boys, ages five and seven were buried in a single grave after being brutally attacked by their father who died along with them in a self-set fire in what has now been determined to be a sham, rental house designed to trick the state. Troyer gave a statement to the media that he and the sheriff were buying the plots to keep the Powell family from burying Josh near the boys.

Two weeks ago, Josh Powell learned he was not going to be given more than supervised visitation with his sons in a court hearing. When a social worker arrived for that visit, Powell grabbed the two boys and pulled them into the house, barring the woman who was supposed to be there to supervise the visit. Two frantic 911 phone calls made by the woman told the horrifying story of what was to be the scene of a murder-suicide within minutes. In the first, the social worker tells the dispatcher that she can smell gas or something in the house and that Powell would not allow her into the house. In the second call, she is even more frantic, saying that Powell had "exploded" the house.

Investigators discovered that a small hatchet near the three bodies in the house. The coroner found hack marks on both of the boys but ruled that all three died from smoke inhalation.

Attorney Anne Bremner, who represents Susan Powell's parents, Charles and Judy Cox had originally announced plans to file a temporary restraining order to prevent the Powells from burying Josh in the Woodbine Cemetery. After the two plots beside the boys were bought up, the family had looked at another plot some twenty five feet from their grave. Powell's mother has agreed to look for other burial arrangements.

Powell, who had been named a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, Susan, reportedly had over four hundred. sexually explicit images, many depicting incestuous sex as well as children's cartoon characters involved in sex acts maintained his innocence even up to the day of his death. Just before his final act, Powell sent a voice mail to his sister, apologizing and saying that he could not go on without his boys.