SEATTLE TIMES RUNS GLOWING OBIT OF CHILD KILLER...RUNS PIC W/OBIT OF HIM WITH DAUGHTERS HE KILLED

Stephen James BYRNE Steve, who lived in Edmonds, savored life. He has left us now, in a struggle to find peace, and we will miss him.

But we will remember that savoring of life, his love of sailing, biking, cross country skiing, diving, hiking. His love of an incredible mountain vista, how the leaves turned gold in the fall, a great bottle of wine and a wonderful meal with friends, a long ride around Lake Washington or up Washington Pass, completing the STP bike ride for the first time, and the second.

He loved his friends and family as well, and we loved him. More than anything in the world, Steve loved his daughters, Kelsey and Hayley. He was at every soccer game, every school performance, every important event in their lives. He taught them how to do all the things he loved - ride bicycles, go sea kayaking, ski, or simply find some good snow to play in. They read together, played games, went to movies, worked on school projects. He hiked halfway up Mount Rainier with them when they were very young, and all the way up on his own. He taught them by example to love the world, to be adventurous, and to be gentle. There is great tragedy in how his life ended, and theirs, but know that this was a loving, good man who did the best he could while struggling against an incomprehensible burden that none of those of us who loved him could have known.

He loved travel, and he had traveled far, from Nebraska to Asia, to the Middle East, to Europe. He traveled overland from Europe to northern Africa. He had lived abroad - in Pakistan and in France - and savored the knowledge of other cultures he gained from that experience. That was an important part of knowing Steve, knowing that he had been to just about any place in the world that might come up in conversation.

He was tolerant of other views, full of ideas, and a great conversationalist. He graduated from the University of Nebraska, and received a Masters Degree from Arizona State University. He taught at the University of Arizona before going to Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in Berkeley, Calif. He lived in Pakistan in 1988-1990, where he worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development, assisting the Pakistani people build an energy infrastructure in their country. When he returned to Berkeley, he launched a career as a software developer specializing in energy conservation. He moved to Bainbridge Island in 1994 with his family.

Steve was preceded in death by his father, John J. Byrne in 1997. He is survived by his mother Lorene Byrne of Mesa, AZ; a brother Tom (Arlette) Byrne of Encinitas, CA; three sisters: Shannon Byrne (Bill) Brower of Harbor Springs, MI; Teri Byrne (Bill) Marx of Bellevue, NE; Mitzi Byrne (Jim) Zimmerman of Oak Hill, VA; and his good friend Rita Hibbard of Edmonds. He was a favorite uncle of Ashley, John and Andy Brower; Michelle and David Byrne; Aimee, Josh, Ryan and Joey Marx; and Kate, Sam and Layne Zimmerman.

Memorial Service, Friday, Dec. 3, 11:00 a.m., in the Chapel of Beck's Funeral Home, 405 - 5th Ave. S., Edmonds, 425-771-1234. In lieu of flowers memorials may be given to Cascade Bicycle Club, P.O. Box 15165, Seattle, WA 98115. Published in print from 11/28/2004 - 11/29/2004. Guest Book • Funeral home info • Flowers Gift Shop • Charities

"I'd investigate the wife."

SNIP from another story:

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/200944_edmonds24.html?searchpagefrom=1&searchdiff=5

While there were never any allegations of physical abuse, concerns about Byrne's temper were raised years ago during the difficult divorce from Dawson.

"He was unwilling to examine the effect his outbursts had (or would have) on his children," Terry Douglass, a marital counselor who saw the couple in 1998, wrote in a declaration filed as part of the divorce proceedings.

Douglass, who suggested Byrne consider an anger management program, said he sometimes directed his angry outbursts at his wife and sometimes at her.

"The intensity was so great that I was unable to respond and was physically intimidated," she wrote. "I remain concerned about my safety from Steve Byrne."

Yesterday, Edmonds police were still trying to sort out what happened.

Byrne e-mailed friends and family at 12:38 p.m., four minutes before the 911 call. He sent a different e-mail to his wife, Assistant Police Chief Al Compaan said, but like the others, it was more generally focused and "had no further explanation."

"Based on the e-mail, there was obviously a lot of anger," Compaan said. "They were quite a lengthy dissertation on his apparent frustration with the system, the divorce and custody issues. But what actually was the tripwire, I don't know. I don't know for sure if we'll ever know."

After arriving at the home Monday, police quickly found the two girls, dead and in their beds, with "no obvious signs of trauma," Compaan said.

Police searched Byrne's home and found some items that may be linked to the cause of the girls' deaths, but authorities are awaiting results from toxicology tests, which could take several weeks.

"We honestly don't know the cause of death yet," Compaan said. "We don't want to speculate until we get the results back and can corroborate our suspicions."

According to court documents, Byrne met the girls' mother when both were in Pakistan, he working for a California laboratory and she there working with her family. They were married in 1991 and Kelsey was born two years later.

But there were problems in the marriage from the beginning, and within months, the newly married couple were in counseling. Therapy became a part of their married lives and they saw several counselors during the next few years.

In early 1994, the family moved to Bainbridge Island to be closer to some of Dawson's family.

They most recently lived as a family in a low house on a rural street on the island, where the yards are large and trees tower everywhere.

Bonnie Clark, a neighbor who lived two homes away from the family's Welfare Avenue house, remembered Byrne yesterday only by his first name.

As a neighbor, she watched as he taught his children how to ride bikes, pushed them on a swing or played ball with them.

He told Clark about his family troubles -- even asked her and her husband to write a letter on his behalf to help with his custody case, which they did, along with several other friends and neighbors.

"He was distraught over not being able to live with his children," Clark said. "As far as we could see, he was a good father. He played with his children often and they all seemed to enjoy each other so much."

But problems continued to plague the marriage, and in 1999, Byrne filed for divorce. The couple separated in April of that year.

From the start, there were disagreements over the parenting plan, with Byrne wanting more time with his daughters.

The proceedings required the use of a guardian ad litem, Carol Rainey, who spoke with the couple, with people who knew them, and with counselors who had worked with them.

Rainey concluded in her report that Byrne and Dawson were "exceptional parents."

In the end, Byrne saw his daughters about 40 percent of the time, and the girls' primary residence was with their mother.

But in early 2003, Dawson sought to move to the Seattle area to be closer to her job that was requiring a 90-minute commute and, she argued, was a taking up time she could have with her daughters.

Byrne immediately fought the move.

"My kids have a life on Bainbridge. It's the only life they've ever known," he said in a deposition on the matter.

But the court allowed the move, finding that the benefits to the girls outweighed any difficulties they might have adjusting to a new school and new community.

Eventually, Byrne moved to Edmonds to remain in close proximity to the girls.

"He seemed to be OK with it," Pedersen said. "I did not see any signs of depression or anything that would lead to this. What I did see was a man grieving over a divorce and in anguish over his children."

The girls appeared to adjust well. Both had excelled as students at the Montessori school, and later at Captain Wilkes Elementary at Bainbridge, before moving to Shoreline. There, they attended Sunset Elementary, and were active in soccer and other extracurricular activities.

"They had these innocent, angelic faces, always smiling," Pedersen said. "And so sensitive -- they couldn't hurt a fly. But they were so confident, too. And the girls just adored their parents."

Everyone agreed that both children adored their parents. Kelsey, the oldest, had red hair and, Rainey wrote in her report, was "an active, effervescent child."

Hayley, who was 4 at the time, was described as "bright, happy and a delight," by Rainey.

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