SEATTLE (KOMO) – Authorities in Washington state have charged a woman with murder after police say she killed her father with an ice climbing axe.
It all began after an argument over turning on the lights inside the home they shared.
According to court papers, the first signs of trouble in the case happened when neighbors heard smashing glass.
All of it took place on election night when the presidential race was about to be announced.
“My first thought was are people getting upset over this election, or is somebody trying to break and enter?” one neighbor asked.
Prosecutors say the actual answer was much more horrific.
Investigators say 33-year-old Corey Burke smashed nearly every window in the home immediately after killing her father with an ice axe.
“The lights were off and only two people live in that house, and only one of them was on the street,” the neighbor added.
The neighbor, who did not want to be named, lives near Burke.
As she watched the election results, she said she noticed flashing lights outside.
Then, she noticed Burke covered in blood.
“My thought was something calamitous had happened in the household,” the nearby resident said. “My first instinct was did she kill her father with her bare hands?”
Prosecutors say that’s what happened, except the killing also involved an ice axe.
All of it allegedly occurred after officials say Burke snapped at her father for simply turning on the lights inside the home.
“When things like this happen, the whole neighborhood gets traumatized,” the neighbor said.
Burke has now been charged with first-degree murder.
According to prosecutors, Burke may have been suffering from a mental health crisis. She was hospitalized, then transported to jail where she is being held on $2 million bail.
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