Seattle police arrested a lesbian who works for Jeff Bezos’ spacecraft company after she was accused of killing her elderly father in an election night rampage. Authorities charged Corey Burke, 33, with murder after, they said, she bit, strangled and then hacked her 67-year-old father with an ice-climbing pickax, and even sat beside the victim until he took his last breath on Nov. 5.
Police were called to the house after neighbors reported hearing Ms. Burke smash windows in the home, according to charging documents obtained by the Daily Mail.
A bloody-faced Ms. Burke eventually emerged from the home, according to police, and told officers she “freaked out” and said the killing “needed to happen today” because there was “something important about Election Day.”
The suspect told police she couldn’t convince her dad, Timothy Burke, to keep the lights off in the home, so she went to grab the ice ax and began her attack.
Ms. Burke first tripped her father, and then jumped on him to bite and strangle him, police said. She then struck him with the ice ax multiple times until he went limp.
She described the killing as an “act of liberation” and that she was “reborn” following her 33rd birthday last month. Authorities took her to a hospital for a mental health evaluation after making contact with her.
According to the charging documents, Ms. Burke whispered “I killed him” to one police officer. She also said had a rocky relationship with her father and was “overwhelmed” on Election Day.
Ms. Burke worked as a training manager for Blue Origin, the aerospace company founded by Mr. Bezos, the founder of Amazon.
She is also married to a transgender woman Samantha Leigh Allen, who is an editor for Conde Nast’s transgender news site called “Them.”
Ms. Burke was charged with first-degree murder. Her next court date is scheduled for Nov. 21.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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