Father kills two daughters, himself
Stephen Byrne, of Edmonds, had moved from his own Kitsap County home just to be closer to the girls, his divorce attorneys said.
Yesterday, he e-mailed at least two friends about his murder-suicide plan, "saying he was going to do this, and he couldn't be deterred," said Edmonds police Sgt. Debbie Smith.
"He said, 'By the time you get this, I'll be dead,'" Smith said.
Police received the first 911 call from an e-mail recipient at 12:42 p.m., Smith said, and officers arrived at the house within minutes.
Police found Byrne dead in the back yard of his rental home, in the 8100 block of 188th St. Southwest, in the Seaview neighborhood. The girls - Hayley Byrne, 9, and Kelsey Byrne, 11 - were found inside in a bedroom; their cause of death was not immediately apparent, Smith said.
The girls, who primarily lived with their mother, attended Sunset Elementary School in the Shoreline School District.
Byrne filed for divorce in 1999, and the marriage was dissolved in October 2000, according to Kitsap County Superior Court records.
Mike Kirk, a Poulsbo attorney who handled his divorce, said Byrne was "very involved" with his kids and considered his wife's move to Shoreline to be "threatening." It was not a friendly divorce, he said, and Byrne didn't think the legal system treats fathers fairly.
"I never saw him as homicidal," Kirk said. "Obsessed perhaps."
Mark Yelish, who represented Byrne during a court hearing, said Byrne was angry when his ex-wife brought forth her relocation motion.
"He had a very liberal parenting plan. He was seeing the kids a lot."
He said Byrne had an at-home business.
Byrne's attorneys described their client as "intense," and said he constantly questioned their advice.
"He was not laid-back or easy going," said Yelish.
Yelish said he never thought Byrne would harm his daughters.
"I don't think you could ever understand anybody who could do something like this," said Yelish. "I'm in shock."
His ex-wife's attorney, Paula Crane, said Byrne was "excessively involved with the children" and never accepted the fact he'd lost custody.
"He's a big guy and he used his physical presence in a domineering fashion," Crane said. "I wasn't afraid of him, and she didn't indicate she was afraid of him," she added, and no domestic violence had been reported.
Neighbors in the man's North Edmonds neighborhood seemed dumbfounded by the news. The quiet, middle-class neighborhood had always seemed immune to violence or sensational crime, they said.
Many remembered seeing Byrne playing with the girls in his front yard, or enjoying the recent Halloween with them. He was friendly, and participated in neighborhood picnics, they said.
In an area where most people own their homes, people paid attention to renters like him.
"We've seen a lot of rental people live there, and he was the best rental person we've ever seen," said Barbara LaDue, who lives across the street. "He talked to me often."
A couple months ago, she said, they had a long conversation about his difficulties with his ex-wife.
"He was very frustrated, said he loved the girls but that his wife was making things very difficult," she said.
A 17-year-old neighbor, Nick Jacob, said he was in his kitchen yesterday when he heard a loud bang. It took him a few seconds to realize it probably was a gunshot, he said.
"It's kind of scary," the teen said. "Something like that happening right next door to you, it kind of makes you a little shaky."
The girls and their mother moved into their Shoreline home about a year ago, neighbors said. The father came by on weekends to pick up the girls, they said.
At Sunset Elementary School, the principal declined comment. Extra school counselors were to be available for students today, Ledell said.
Diane Brooks: 425-745-7802 or dbrooks@seattletimes.com
Times reporters Lynn Thompson and Peyton Whitely contributed to this report.