Corey Burke, married to prominent transgender writer Samantha Leigh Allen, was arrested after brutally killing her father with an ice axe on election night in Seattle.
Burke, 33, reportedly covered in his blood, was found clapping and smiling when police arrived at the scene, according to arrest documents.
In a chilling confession to officers, Burke described the murder as a “liberation act,” admitting to strangling, biting, and hacking her 67-year-old father, Timothy Burke, to death. She claimed the act was meant to “help people change their attachment to their parents” and insisted it “had to happen today.”
The tragedy unfolded after a heated argument over Donald Trump’s election victory. Burke, already distressed by the outcome, became enraged when her father refused to turn off the lights. She then grabbed an ice pick, attacked him, and ultimately killed him, according to police reports. Afterward, Burke reportedly sat next to her father as he died, before smashing the windows in what she called another “act of liberation.”
Burke, who has worked at Jeff Bezos’ space company, Blue Origin, for five years, admitted to having a strained relationship with her father, describing it as lacking strong boundaries, which contributed to her disorganized state of mind. The election result, she claimed, pushed her to the breaking point.
When police arrived, Burke initially denied any knowledge of the blood or broken windows, later confessing to the officer, “I killed him.” Burke is now charged with premeditated murder and held on a $2 million bond.
