In the latest chapter of an almost operatic family tragedy, the brother of Josh Powell, who killed his sons and himself, has died in Minneapolis after apparently throwing himself from a seven-story parking structure.
The University of Minnesota, where Michael Powell was a graduate student, confirmed that the death occurred off campus and said the Minneapolis Police Department was investigating.
Powell, 30, had been engaged in a legal battle with the parents of his missing sister-in-law, Susan Cox Powell, over the proceeds of as much as $3.5 million in life insurance paid out after Josh Powell killed himself and the couple’s two young boys in February 2012.
Michael Powell, a doctoral student in cognitive science, had ardently defended his brother when Josh Powell was listed as a person of interest in the disappearance of his wife, who was last seen at the couple’s Utah home in December 2009.