Donna O'Steen's sister, Shirley Lacy, has cut out every article that mentions the murder of her sister. She keeps them in scrapbooks, which after ten years are filled with dozens upon dozens of articles, obituaries, vigil flyers, and pictures.

November marks the tenth anniversary of Donna’s brutal murder and today the family knows as much about the person and motive behind the murder as they did ten years ago – nothing.

“There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t think, ‘why her?’,” said Richard Haynie, Donna’s ex-husband. “We always hope that someone will be remorseful and come forward.”

Donna O’Steen-Haynie was killed on Thursday, November 8, 2001 in the master bedroom of her Shilshole home. The weather was cold but clear and Donna had just dropped her daughter, Morgan, off at her piano lesson. She was in a bad mood and briefly talked to her sister, Shirley, on the phone.

Less than half-an-hour after that phone call Donna would be dead, slashed 13 times around the neck and chest while her hands were duct-taped behind her back.

“I had talked to Donna at 8:25 that morning. To this day, I wonder if that murderer was probably there when we were on the phone,” Lacy said. “Maybe she was trying to get through to me. I can be pretty dense sometimes.”

According to Haynie and Lacy, the murder investigations never resulted in any serious leads.

Haynie was the first to be suspected, as husbands frequently are.

“I was on the top of the list [of. It was not good for me. Plus people suspect you did it anyway. Or had it done because I was at work when it happened, ” Haynie said, who went through hours of interrogation and a lie detector test before he could grieve in peace.

The detectives try to keep the family hopeful but the last few years have been nothing but revisiting old clues, scenarios and theories.

“There are a lot of circumstances that are real interesting to what happened,” Haynie said, explaining how the dogs were confined on the first floor, the doors were locked, the phone line was cut, and only a few belongings were taken.

“There is good indication that it was someone who was familiar with the house. The floor plan of the house isn’t your basic rambler,” Lacy said.

Initially, police believed the incident had been a burglary gone wrong but the items were seemingly taken at random.

“ ‘He’ took a half gallon jar of nickels but passed over silver dollars and a nice Omega watch and a whole bunch of things,” Haynie said. “Why would you leave a murder scene with 18 pounds of nickels?"

The murderer also brought his own duct tape, knife and gloves.

“The other thing that is horrible about it is that Donna was still alive when Morgan came to the house. We had one of those [guard bar locks and Morgan couldn’t open the door. The person killed at that time,” Haynie said.

Morgan’s piano teacher, who had driven her home, sensed something was wrong and took Morgan to the neighbors, allowing the murderer(s) to escape.

“In retrospect it’s a good thing they couldn’t open the lock because then Morgan and the piano teacher wouldn’t be here today, I think,” Lacy said.

Police blocked off the surrounding area and searched possible escape routes but their efforts were fruitless. Even a bloodhound couldn’t find a trail.

The detective leading the case was unavailable for comment but Haynie said a picture of Donna hangs on his wall and her case is still considered ‘high profile’.

“They say the case hasn’t gone cold but I had a conversation with [true crime Ann Rule when Donna was first murdered and she stated that if the killer is not found in the first 72 hours, the investigation may never be solved,” Lacy said.

“Assistant United States Attorney Thomas Wales was killed three and a half weeks before Donna. He had four or five FBI agents assigned to him and there was only one detective – who has ten to twenty other cases – assigned to Donna," she added. "We are not criticizing the detective; just commenting on the system.”

Haynie talks to the detective weekly and Lacy regularly ‘Googles’ Donna’s name. But while the wondering never stops and Haynie has become somewhat obsessive about locking doors and installing alarm systems, the family has moved on.

“You learn to live with it,” Haynie said. “You have to. We had kids to raise. You can’t just be wallowing in self-pity. You want to see someone convicted, of course, but you have a family to think about.”

Haynie remarried a few years ago. His and Donna’s children are now independent adults.

Their son, Kealan, is now 24 and has the same love of boating and adventure that Donna had, spending most of his time out on the Puget Sound waters fishing, monitoring a race, crabbing or just sailing with his cousins.

Their daughter, Morgan, now 21, is a junior at the University of Montana studying Criminology and Forensic Science.

Neither Haynie nor Lacy believe her interest in forensics is a coincidence.

Said Lacy, “Perhaps, once she graduates from UM, she will find the person we are looking for…”

Anyone with information regarding the murder of Donna O’Steen should call the Seattle Police Department at (206) 684-8932.