Carnation killer sentenced to life in prison

A 12-person jury has sentenced the man found guilty of murdering six people in Carnation to life in prison.

The sentencing for Joseph McEnroe came down Wednesday.

The jury was called back in after the sentencing for clarification on the verdict. Prosecutor Scott O’Toole asked for continued deliberation. McEnroe faced the death penalty, but jurors could not reach unanimity, KIRO Radio’s Josh Kerns reported.

The mother of one victim and grandmother of two of the victims said the sentence is justice.

“Yeah, it is for us,” Pam Mantle said. “I’m not sure how my daughter will feel.”

Mantle’s daughter was hoping McEnroe would get the death penalty, she said.

McEnroe walked into his girlfriend’s parents’ house on Christmas Eve 2007 in Carnation and helped kill six members of the Anderson family. He was found guilty on six counts of first-degree murder.

McEnroe previously told jurors that his former girlfriend, Michele Anderson, was the mastermind behind the killings. Anderson manipulated him, he said.

Prosecutors said McEnroe was very willing to go forward with the grisly crime, despite every opportunity to back out.

“I will say, in all sincerity, that this is the system,” O’Toole said. “We respect the jury’s decision. I think they were attentive and diligent.”

The sentence was still sinking in for Mantle on Wednesday.

“I’m still sick about losing my family,” she said.

The trial for Michele Anderson begins in the fall.