A Breckenridge man tried to kill his ex-wife by strangling her, cutting her arms and thighs, hitting her in the head multiple times and cutting her throat, he told authorities.
Keenu Tiyme, 35, succeeded in killing 39-year-old Kauri Tiyme of Breckenridge in a Denver motel room Oct. 18.
But then, according to an arrest warrant affidavit, he backed out of his part of their suicide pact.
Keenu Tiyme tried to kill himself by taking mouse poison and Drano, but it didn’t work. He ruled out hanging himself, and jumping from a balcony “seemed wrong,” he said in a note detectives found at the scene.
He was charged Tuesday with first-degree murder and is to be in Denver County Court today.
Neither of the Tiymes have criminal records. According to court records, they jointly asked for dissolution of their marriage in May. A divorce was granted in August.
Investigators allege that information in the room indicated that the couple had made a suicide pact and planned to kill themselves.
A housekeeper at the motel discovered Kauri Tiyme’s body the day after Tiyme died, and authorities began looking for Keenu Tiyme.
On Oct. 22, he was spotted by the New Mexico State Police near Maxwell, N.M., and was captured after he lost control of his car during a chase.
Tiyme was treated for his injuries at Swedish Medical Center in Denver and was later booked into the Denver County Jail, where he is being held without bail.
Denver investigators interviewed Tiyme shortly after he was released from the hospital.
He said his ex-wife told him she was depressed and wanted to die. She asked him to kill her in the least painful manner, Detective Daniel Wiley said in an arrest affidavit.
The understanding, Tiyme told Wiley, was that he would kill himself as well.
They decided to check into the motel. After killing Kauri Tiyme, Keenu Tiyme washed her body, taped her wounds and placed her in bed with her hands crossed at the waist. Detectives found notes he left in the room.
“This all started as a Suicide Pact and I did what I could to ensure Kauri and I succeeded,” he wrote. “Feeling so out of it depressed sad sad and lonely, the only thing making me happy right now is knowing Kauri is no longer dealing with these feelings.”
Howard Pankratz: 303-954-1939 or hpankratz@denverpost.com
