A 33-year-old employee of Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin has been accused of fatally attacking her father with an ice climbing axe. Reports describe her as being ‘smiling and clapping’ after the incident.
This alleged murder took place in Seattle, Washington, coinciding with the day of the US election. Corey Burke, aged 33, was reportedly at home with her father, Timothy Burke, aged 67, when the incident occurred.
Neighbors, speaking to KOMO News, mentioned hearing the sound of breaking glass and speculated if it was related to reactions about the election results favoring Donald Trump.
An unnamed neighbor expressed: “My first thought was, ‘are people getting upset over this election? Or is somebody trying to break and enter?'”
Upon hearing these noises, neighbors alerted the authorities, who arrived to the sound of a ‘clapping noise’ coming from inside the house.
Corey then approached the officers with blood visible on her arms and face.
When questioned by the police about the clapping noise, Corey reportedly responded that she was happy, which was why she had been clapping inside her home.
King County prosecutors noted that Corey displayed signs indicating a mental health crisis, resulting in her being taken to Harborview Medical Center.
Officers learned that Timothy, Corey’s father, also resided at the location and conducted a welfare check inside the home. They discovered Timothy’s body, which showed signs of trauma, alongside a bloody ice axe in one of the rooms.
After further investigation, prosecutors suggested that an argument between the father and daughter occurred over the lighting in their house, which Timothy wanted to turn on, while Corey preferred to keep it dark.
The dispute reportedly escalated, leading Corey to allegedly decide she ‘needed to do something’ about her father, at which point she is accused of grabbing the ice axe.
According to her LinkedIn profile, Corey works as a training program manager at Blue Origin and is accused of ‘strangling’ her father.
She is also alleged to have ‘bitten him and struck him multiple times on the head and side with both the blunt and sharp ends of the ice axe’.
Timothy sustained wounds severe enough to pierce his lung and rib cage, resulting in his death.
Following the altercation, Corey reportedly broke several windows in the house.
Corey now faces charges of first-degree murder and is being held in the King County Jail with bail set at $2 million.