SEATTLE – Joseph McEnroe was sentenced to life in prison for his role without the possibility of parole in the murders of a family of six on Christmas Eve 2007.
McEnroe was convicted of killing his then-girlfriend's family in Carnation, having shot them all in the head.
Prosecutors were seeking the death penalty.
The defense maintained that McEnroe is mentally ill and was the pawn of his abusive and controlling girlfriend, Michele Anderson. They say Anderson was the mastermind in the murders of her parents Wayne and Judy Anderson; brother Scott; sister-in-law Erica; 5-year-old niece Olivia and 3-year-old nephew Nathan.
A recording of Anderson admitting to the killings was played during McEnroe's trial.
Seven years, four months and six days since the killing of her daughter and two grandchildren, Pam Mantle can finally exhale. The decision to spare McEnroe from the death chamber is fine with her. She says she's still ready to put the trial behind her, even though the killings still haunt her.
"I'm still sick about losing my family. Every day, I go through it daily after seven and a half years," she said.
McEnroe, however, had nothing to say as he left the courtroom after the verdict was read.
His attorney says McEnroe hopes to use his time in prison to counsel other inmates.
"He wants to try to redeem himself. The things he said in his allocution, his testimony are absolutely true," said defense attorney Bill Prestia.
McEnroe did apologize to the families during the trial, something Pam Mantle says she just can't accept.
"He had no respect for anybody. He had no respect for the two people who were kindest to him, which were Wayne and Judy, who took him in. He shot them and threw them in the back yard. I have nothing to say about him," she said.
This is one of the most expensive cases in King County history at more than $10 million, and the meter is still running with the Michele Anderson trial scheduled for next January.
