Murder trial near in 2007 Carnation killings

SEATTLE – Seven years after six family members were killed in Carnation on Christmas Eve, a King County judge is nearly ready to begin hearing the case against one of the two people charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

A jury was chosen in the case against Joseph McEnroe, which is scheduled to begin with opening statements Jan. 12, the Seattle Times reported.

McEnroe and his former girlfriend, Michele Anderson, were each charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder in connection with the Dec. 24, 2007, shooting deaths of Anderson’s parents, brother, sister-in-law, 5-year-old niece and 3-year-old nephew.

King County Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell said in court earlier this week that jury selection has been a rigorous, grueling process.

According to Ramsdell, 3,000 summonses were mailed to prospective jurors. That group was whittled down to 55 last week and then on Friday, seven men and nine women were selected to serve as jurors in a trial that could stretch into May.

Both cases have undergone a number of delays, largely because of repeated trips to the state Supreme Court. The justices have reversed Ramsdell’s orders on three occasions.

Anderson and McEnroe gave detailed confessions when questioned by detectives, prosecutors said.

According to the charging papers, when the pair arrived at the home of Anderson’s parents, McEnroe shot her father, Wayne, 60, in the head. Her mother, Judy, 61, rushed out from where she had been wrapping presents, and McEnroe killed her, too.

The pair hid the bodies, and when Anderson’s brother Scott arrived with his wife, Erica, both 32, and their two children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan, Michele and McEnroe executed them, according to charging documents.

Authorities have said the killings were motivated, in part, by money and family strife.