‘Power lesbian’ kills father with ax in Election Night freak-out

Corey Burke, a Seattle woman, allegedly killed her father with an ice axe in an apparent Election Night meltdown.

A so-called “power lesbian” has been charged with first-degree murder after allegedly killing her 67-year-old father, Timothy Burke, with an ice ax on Election Night. 

The accused, 33-year-old Corey Burke, is a training manager at Jeff Bezos' aerospace company, Blue Origin. According to court documents, the incident began as an argument in which her father reportedly refused to turn off the lights in her Seattle home, which she purchased in 2023. Burke allegedly told police that this disagreement led her to “freak out.”

The term “power lesbian” refers to a wealthy, influential lesbian with extensive social connections, often involved with similarly connected individuals.

On the night of the incident, witnesses reported seeing Burke emerge from her home with blood on her face. She allegedly admitted to officers that Election Day held special significance and confessed that her frustration with her father’s refusal to keep the lights off led her to retrieve an ice ax. Police say Burke described tripping her father, choking him, and striking him multiple times in the head and side, remaining by his side until he stopped breathing.

Witnesses also recalled hearing glass shattering, and a neighbor dialed 911 upon seeing Burke smash windows, an act she later described as an “act of liberation.” Police reports indicate she made statements about feeling “reborn” on her recent birthday and expressed a desire to help others “change their attachment to their parents.”

Burke’s wife, Samantha Leigh Allen, is an editor at Conde Nast’s LGBTQ+ news outlet Them. Burke was initially taken to a hospital for a mental health evaluation and is now being held on $2 million bail. She is scheduled to appear in court on November 21.