The Snohomish County Medical Examiner’s office has determined that two Edmonds girls who police believe were murdered by their father died of acute drug intoxication.
Hayley Byrne, 9, and Kelsey Byrne, 11, were found dead inside their father’s Edmonds home Nov. 22. The father was found dead in the back yard from 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, police said.
Byrne was upset that his former wife, Suzanne Dawson, had been granted primary custody of the girls when the couple divorced in 2000, family and friends said.
From Herald staff reports
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