Couple Pleads Not Guilty in Slaying of 6 Family Members Near Seattle

Prosecutors are deciding whether to seek the death penalty if the suspects, Michele K. Anderson and Joseph Thomas McEnroe, both 29, are convicted.

Investigators have said Anderson and McEnroe confessed to shooting her parents, her brother and his wife and that couple's two young children at her parents' home near Carnation, east of Seattle.

Prosecutors have given no motive, but said Anderson told detectives her brother owed her money and that she was upset because her parents did not take her side. She also said her parents were pressuring her to start paying rent for staying on their rural property.

The victims were Wayne Anderson, 60; his wife, Judy Anderson, 61; their son Scott Anderson, 32; his wife, Erica, 32; and their children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan. Each suspect is charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James Konat asked Michele Anderson and McEnroe whether they understood each charge against them. The defendants answered yes in barely audible voices. At one point Konat said to Anderson, whose long brown hair hung down in front of her face, "I'm sorry, you'll have to answer out loud."

Their lawyers entered the pleas of not guilty on their behalf.

Family members of the victims and friends sat in the courtroom separated from the defendants by a pane of glass. They held each other and wept.

After the hearing, the family rushed out of the courtroom, down the hall and into an elevator without speaking to news media.

The next hearing was set for Jan. 29.

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