Police release sketches in woman's '01 murder

Three years after the murder of Ballard resident Donna O'Steen, the Seattle Police Department is releasing sketches of two "persons of interest," as well as photographs of replicas of items stolen from her house.

O'Steen, 53, was stabbed to death in a break-in Nov. 8, 2001, after driving her daughter to a music lesson. The murder took place in her home, in the 6500 block of 37th Avenue Northwest.

Over the course of the investigation, a neighbor and a transient who bragged in a nearby tavern that he had killed a woman have been eliminated as suspects.

"These are not necessarily suspects," said Officer Debra Brown of the sketches. "These are two people we couldn't identify before. We hope this exposure will jog some memories."

Both men were seen in the neighborhood around the time of the murder.

One is described as a white male, possibly in his 30s or 40s, about 6 feet tall, 180 to 200 pounds. He was wearing a white, long-sleeved painter-type shirt, matching white painter pants, an orange, see-through traffic-type vest and a white hard hat. His hair is light brown to blond with a box cut and no scruff on the neck, similar to a Dutch boy haircut. He may have had a mustache and possibly bad skin or acne.

The other person is described as a white male, about 40 years old, 6 feet tall, with a medium build. He was dressed like a construction worker, in clean clothing.

Paul de Barros: 206-464-3247 or pdebarros@seattletimes.com