MURDERED: Donna O’Steen

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November 8th, 2001, was a morning like any other for Donna O’Steen. Her husband, Richard, headed out the door for work at around 7:30 a.m., while Donna stayed behind to make breakfast for their two children, drive her teen son to his school, and then take her daughter to her scheduled piano lesson—just another Thursday for a busy, happy family.

But when Donna returned to the house overlooking Shilshole Bay in the Ballard-Sunset Hill area of Seattle, Washington, a devastating nightmare unfolded that would take her life and impact her loved ones forever. It was a brutal, vicious crime that no one could have anticipated, leaving Donna’s lifeless body drenched in blood, and a team of investigators with more questions than answers as they tried to solve her murder.

Known by friends and family as “resourceful, feisty, and honest,” Donna was the epitome of strength and well-liked by everyone who knew her—she didn’t have a single enemy in her life. A great mom and a dedicated wife whose world revolved around her family and the insurance business she and her husband ran together, Donna was living the busy and successful life that most people dream of. A brutal murder in broad daylight inside her own home was the last thing anyone ever expected to happen to Donna O’Steen.

What happened to Donna was unimaginable—a mystery to this day that begs to be solved. Did the crime against her receive the appropriate attention it deserved? Did police really do all they could? Or was Donna’s case left languishing in the shadows as the spotlight suddenly shifted to another, higher-profile Seattle murder? Donna’s friends and family are still grasping for straws to this day, desperate for her decades-old murder to be solved. Will justice finally arrive for Donna O’Steen?

**Donna and her family with her second husband, Richard Haynie**

**Donna and her second husband, Richard Haynie**

**Pickle jar full of quarters stolen from the crime scene**

**Police released photos and descriptions of items missing from Donna’s home after she was killed.**

On top is a silver bracelet showing horses running head to tail. The ring pictured here is the man's companion to a wedding ring with a small diamond in one corner.
*Photos via SeattlePI.com*

**Police also released sketches of men seen nearby at the time of Donna O'Steen's murder.**

*Sketch via SeattlePI.com*

Today, the murders of Thomas Wales and Donna O’Steen still remain unsolved. The Seattle Police Department said they continue to investigate Donna’s murder. They ask that anyone who has information contact the Seattle Police tip line at 206-233-5000.

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Resources

UNSOLVED: Amanda Clairmont