A Seattle woman who admitted to police that she killed her 67-year-old father in a violent ice axe attack earlier this month pleaded not guilty Thursday in court.
Corey Lizette Burke, 33, told police she argued with Timothy Burke on November 5 because he insisted on keeping the lights in their house on and then decided she “needed to do something” about him, KIRO reported.
Charging documents say she then went upstairs and got an ice axe, located her father in the basement, where she tripped him and attacked with the axe.
According to KING, neighbors called police and reported that Burke was smashing windows of her home. She wouldn’t answer arriving officers’ questions and refused to allow officers into the home, saying there was no one else there. Police took her to Harborview Hospital for a mental health evaluation and then spoke with neighbors, who said they were concerned about Burke’s father.
Police then entered the home, KIRO said, and found him dead in the basement. The bloody axe was found on the living room floor.
Corey Burke was arrested at the hospital and charged with first degree murder.
In an interview with detectives, she said that she was overwhelmed by her relationship with her father and “freaked out” during the argument. She provided multiple details about the attack and said she hit him with the axe multiple times so make sure he died.
She told officers that she strangled him using her hands and the axe and hit him multiple times with axe, penetrating his lung and rib cage, the documents say.
Officers said Timothy Burke also had bite marks on his back. His daughter said she stayed with him until he stopped breathing.
Charging documents say Burke was having a “mental health crisis.”
The King County Medical Examiner’s Office said Timothy Burke died from severe blunt force trauma, puncture wounds, and asphyxiation.
Corey Burke is being held on a $2 million bail.
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