Judge to allow courtroom photos at hearings in Carnation slayings

The man and woman suspected of the Christmas Eve slayings of six people in Carnation can be photographed by the media during upcoming court proceedings, a King County judge ruled this morning.

Defense attorneys for Joseph McEnroe and Michele Kristen Anderson had sought to bar photographs of the suspects, claiming the identities of the killers may still be in question. But Judge Cheryl Carey and prosecutors disagreed, citing the statements the two have given police.

Carey also ruled this morning that McEnroe and Anderson will be allowed to wear street clothes during court hearings and will not be required to wear handcuffs or shackles. The ruling was made to prevent potential jurors from being prejudiced.

McEnroe and Anderson, both 29, are charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the Dec. 24 slayings of Anderson's parents in their Carnation home. Killed were Wayne Anderson, 60, and his wife, Judith, 61, as well as Michele Anderson's brother, Scott, his wife, Erica, and the couple's two children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3.

The pair are being held without bail and will be arraigned Thursday.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg will have 30 days from the arraignment to decide whether to seek the death penalty. The only other sentence allowed for an aggravated-murder conviction is life in prison without parole.

"Given the magnitude of this crime, I pledge to give this case serious consideration for the state's ultimate penalty," Satterberg said after filing charges Dec. 28.

According to those court documents, Michele Anderson told police she was tired "of everybody stepping on her," and she had decided if her family did not start showing her respect by Dec. 24, she would kill them all. Anderson also was angry that her parents were pressuring her to pay rent for the trailer she shared with McEnroe on the elder Andersons' wooded Carnation property, she told police.

The slayings have shocked the small towns of Carnation, where Judy Anderson was a well-known mail carrier, and Black Diamond, where Scott and Erica Anderson and their children lived. Wayne Anderson was a Boeing employee.

Natalie Singer: 206-464-2704 or nsinger@seattletimes.com