*This is not an impossible theory but it is an improbable one
*
Why is it improbable? People have been attacked by owls and, without medical attention, they'd have bled to death...which is how Kathleen died.
Her throat wasn't "crushed"...there was a broken bone. Who says that happened falling up the stairs? It may have happened fighting off the owl. We don't know.
And falling down the stairs is the single biggest cause of death in the home. It's not that rare, unfortunately. My own mother died falling down the stairs (she was an alcoholic which probably precipitated it).
And, if we're going for improbabilities...what about the highly improbable circumstance of someone being ferociously hit over the head several times and only receiving skin lacerations? Absolutely no damage to the skull at all. This is most unusual in homicidal attacks to the head.
But it is a standard finding when birds attack.
Talon shaped lacerations. Owl foot feathers in her hair. Evidence that she'd been yanking at something in her hair. Evidence that she'd been outside the front of the house. Evidence that she'd closed the front door while bleeding. Evidence that she'd fallen outside. Evidence that she approached the staircase already bleeding.
No, sorry....there's no way, given all this, anyone could suggest it's improbable enough to be dismissed as a potential solution. No way.
And, Kathleen was a middle aged woman who'd had a drink, was probably tired, maybe slightly groggy from a valium and possibly had the wind knocked out of her if it had been an owl. Having to fight it off then run inside as fast as she could would probably have meant she couldn't scream all that loudly. We certainly can't day she definitely would have been screaming and shouting her head off.