A 33-year-old woman who works at Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin is said to have been found 'smiling and clapping' after allegedly hacking her father to death with an ice climbing axe.
The alleged murder unfolded in Seattle, Washington, on the day of the US election, when 33-year-old Corey Burke was at home with her father, 67-year-old Timothy Burke.
Speaking to KOMO News, neighbors recalled hearing the sounds of smashing glass and wondered if it was a response to the way the election was going in Donald Trump's favor.
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One neighbor, who has not been named, said: "My first thought was, ‘are people getting upset over this election? Or is somebody trying to break and enter?'"
Neighbors called police after hearing the sounds, and officers described hearing a 'clapping noise' coming from inside the home when they arrived.
They were then met by Corey, who approached them with blood on her arms and face.
When officers asked Corey about the clapping noise, she told them she had 'been clapping inside her home, because she was happy, so she started clapping'.
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According to King County prosecutors, Corey displayed characteristics that indicated she was having a mental health crisis, prompting authorities to transport her Harborview Medical Center.
Meanwhile, officers learned Corey's father also lived at the residence and entered the home to conduct a welfare check. It was then that they found Timothy's body with obvious signs of trauma, as well as a bloody ice axe lying in one of the rooms.
After investigating the incident, prosecutors alleged the father and daughter got into an argument over the lights in their home, which Timothy wanted to turn on, but Corey wanted to leave dark.
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The argument is said to have escalated, with Corey deciding she 'needed to do something' about her father, which is when she allegedly grabbed the ice axe.
The 33-year-old, whose LinkedIn profile says she works as a training program manager at Blue Origin, is accused of having 'strangled' her father.
She also allegedly 'bit him and hit him several times in the head and side with the blunt and sharp ends of the ice axe'.
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Timothy was left with wounds deep enough to penetrate his lung and rib cage, and ultimately died of his injuries.
Corey then allegedly smashed several windows in the home.
The 33-year-old has been charged with first-degree murder and is currently being held in the King County Jail on $2 million bail.
Topics: Blue Origin, Election, US News, Crime
Emily Brown