Ruling: No shackles for Carnation suspects

Despite security concerns, the man and woman suspected of the Christmas Eve slayings of six people in Carnation will not have to be shackled during their pretrial hearings nor do they have to be handcuffed when they answer the charges Thursday, a King County judge has ruled.

In agreeing with the defense attorneys, Superior Court Judge Cheryl Carey said Tuesday that requiring defendants Joseph McEnroe and Michele Kristen Anderson to be shackled or wear jail jumpsuits could prejudice potential jurors.

McEnroe and Anderson are each charged with six counts of aggravated murder in connection with the Dec. 24 slayings of Anderson's family. Killed were her parents, Wayne Anderson, 60, and his wife, Judith, 61; and her brother, Scott, his wife, Erica, and the couple's two children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3.

McEnroe and Anderson, both 29, are being held without bail and will be arraigned Thursday. King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg then will have 30 days to decide whether to seek the death penalty. The only other sentence allowed for an aggravated-murder conviction is life in prison without parole.

Carey also ruled that the media could photograph the defendants during upcoming court proceedings, saying she didn't think there was a compelling reason to restrict the public procedures.

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

"I don't expect identity is ever going to be an issue," said James Konat, senior deputy prosecuting attorney.

Deputy prosecuting attorney Nancy Balin, representing the King County Department of Adult and Juvenile Detention, which runs the jail, argued against allowing the suspects to "dress out," or wear civilian clothes, for court hearings.

"In this courthouse, with hundreds of people milling about ... they are an extreme risk for escape," she said.

But Carey said that she needed to balance safety with the need for a fair trial and that the issue of handcuffs could be revisited by attorneys after Thursday's arraignment.

Both McEnroe and Anderson appeared in street clothes during Tuesday's hearing. They kept their heads low throughout much of the hearing, both their faces shielded by their hair. Neither spoke.

According to 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