After the death of a 26-year-old woman in Tacoma, Washington, a U.S. Army Ranger was charged with first-degree murder. He said he did not remember the attack because the power went out suddenly after drinking all night.
Patrick Philip Byrne, based at Joint Base Lewis-Mcjord, was accused of killing 42-year-old Dennis Smith on July 18. He pleaded not guilty.
The attack occurred in an office building in downtown Tacoma. The prosecutor said that Byrne and his friend had an argument in the bar and was punched in the face. Then he went to the office building and allegedly assaulted Smith while serving as a security guard.
According to court documents, Byrne was accused of beating Smith with a fist and a set of keys so that she could not be identified. The documents stated that he allegedly subsequently suffocated her, eventually leading to her death.
“In the eyes of a detective, he tried to stab or goug her eyes,” court documents show.
“During the prolonged attack on the victim by the defendant, she tried to fight back many times. She tried to escape, but the defendant caught her every time and prevented her from escaping,” the document continued. “He repeatedly suppressed her, beat her, and threw her aside with her braids.”
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Prosecutors said that once Byrne killed Smith, he would jump out of the window, tear up the furniture and jump onto the 14-foot-high concrete. Once he recovered from the fainting, he allegedly started screaming for help and claimed that he was stabbed and sexually assaulted. When he arrived at the hospital, the doctor found that he had not been stabbed and he did not allow them to check whether he was sexually assaulted.
Byrne told the police that he did not remember the attack. He said he only remembered going to the bar, drinking and being in a coma. Byrne said that when he woke up, he was in the hospital.
A few hours later, a colleague found Smith’s body. Byrne was arrested after security camera footage appeared to show that he attacked and killed Smith. Byrne was also charged with two first-degree murders, two first-degree kidnapping and one first-degree burglary.
The US Army Special Operations Command issued a statement about Byrne. During the investigation, the office is cooperating with the police.
In an interview with KOMO-TV, Smith’s sister mentioned that her sister is a “kind, gentle and lovely” person.
“She just loves, just cares, keeps herself and takes care of her own business,” Mike said as she stopped outside the office building where her sister died. “I just came here to see this building because I want to see it with my own eyes.”
She also stated that Byrne’s arrest did not relieve her and her family’s pain of losing Smith.
“It won’t make me feel calm, no,” Mike said. “The arrest did not bring her back.”
