SEATTLE – A Seattle jury convicted a 36-year-old man for killing six members of his ex-girlfriend's family in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007.
Jurors deliberated for less than two days before finding Joseph McEnroe guilty of first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances in King County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon.
McEnroe showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.
He faces either life in prison without parole or execution, which jurors will decide in a second phase of the trial, expected to begin next week.
Prosecutors say McEnroe and his former girlfriend, Michele Anderson, shot her parents Wayne and Judy Anderson; brother Scott; sister-in-law Erica; 5-year-old niece Olivia and 3-year-old nephew Nathan.
Prosecutors say the murders were clearly premeditated and that McEnroe believed Anderson had been slighted by her family. McEnroe's defense lawyers argued that he was coerced by his former girlfriend and had argued for convictions of second-degree murder.
Prosecutor Scott O'Toole said the jury had to endure details of a grisly murder scene and horrific crimes.
"There was a lot of information, 220 exhibits and 7 years for them to review so we were very hopeful when the call came in this morning," he said.
Pam Mantle, who lost her daughter and two grandchildren in the massacre, still doesn't know what to think.
"I don't know, it's been such a long road I'm kind of numb right now," she said.
"It never changes. It hasn't changed in 7 years. Every morning I wake up and wonder if it was a dream, and it wasn't. So, you get up, wander the house, get a drink and think about it. Then the ball starts rolling all over again."
The Mantles say the defense's notion that Joseph McEnroe was somehow under the influence of his then-girlfriend Michele Anderson, that he was delusional and unable to think for himself is absurd. They say he was "fully functional" when he opened fire that Christmas Eve.
As for whether the McEnroe should be executed for his crimes, Tony Mantle is ambivalent.
"I don't really care. The rest of his life is going to be miserable, and that's good enough," he said.
This conviction is only the first trial. The same jury will now hear testimony before handing down a sentence. And McEnroe's accomplice stands trial later this year.
The Mantles know their fight is still far from over.
"It's kind of like re-climbing K2. It's a tough battle," said Pam Mantle. "It's tough to get up in the morning and come down here every day."
