Drug angle probed in local murder-suicide

Published 7:32 am Friday, February 29, 2008

EDMONDS – Police are investigating whether prescription medication played a role in the deaths of two girls apparently murdered by their father Nov. 22 before he shot and killed himself.

An empty prescription bottle was found inside the home of Stephen J. Byrne on Monday, according to a search warrant filed Wednesday in Snohomish County District Court’s south division. Officers also found a helium tank, but do not know if either was used in the murders.

“We really don’t know what went on at this point. We’re hoping the toxicology reports will help us put those pieces of the puzzle together,” Edmonds Assistant Chief Al Compaan said.

The warrant does not say what the prescription was for, but Compaan said detectives are investigating whether the medication was given to the girls.

The helium tank “is another thing we’re looking at,” he said. “We’re very interested in seeing the lab report.”

It could be weeks before that report is complete, according to the Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s Office.

Hayley Byrne, 9, and Kelsey Byrne, 11, were found dead inside their father’s Edmonds home Monday afternoon. He was found dead in the back yard of a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Police found him and the girls after Byrne dialed 911 and told the dispatcher to send police and medics. Before killing himself, he sent an e-mail to family and friends saying he was going to harm himself and the girls, citing his anger and frustration with the court system, Compaan said.

Officers found an e-mail note on the computer in Byrne’s house. The message “stated he was sorry for what he had done and he was going to kill his family,” according to court documents.

Byrne was angry that his former wife, Suzanne Dawson, had been granted primary custody and had moved from their Bainbridge Island home to Shoreline, family friends said.

He moved into an Edmonds rental a little over a year ago to be closer to the girls. That apparently did little to stem his anger about not being granted equal custody of his daughters.

Police also found a letter from the state Department of Social and Health Services inside his home.

Byrne, 50, a self-employed software engineer and energy company consultant, was behind on child support payments because he was unemployed for a time, a lawyer for his former wife said. A court filing from DSHS indicated that in April Byrne owed $8,673 in child support, and as a result a lien was placed on his property.

Edmonds Enterprise editor Shanti Hahler contributed to this report.