Man pleads guilty to killing four people in Des Moines in 2001

A man who killed four people in a Des Moines home in March 2001 pleaded guilty this morning to four counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

Leemah Carneh's pleas to the slayings of Richard and Jane Larson, their grandson Taelor Marks, 17, and Marks' 17-year-old girlfriend, Josie Peterson, brings to a close a case that has bounced between King County Superior Court and Western State Hospital for years.

Relatives of the victims have waited for a resolution in the case only to see Carneh ruled mentally incompetent to stand trial and sent to Western State for treatment. Carneh, 28, has been diagnosed as a paranoid schizophrenic. Since his arrest he has been treated with a number of anti-psychotic drugs that occasionally seem to restore some level of competency, according to court records.

To be found competent for trial, the state requires that a defendant be able to understand the nature of the proceedings against him and rationally assist in his defense.

In July, Carneh was deemed competent and arraigned on the four murder charges.

Aggravated first-degree murder carries one of two sentences — life in prison without parole or the death penalty. After Carneh's arrest in 2001, former Prosecutor Norm Maleng declined to pursue the death penalty because of Carneh's history of mental illness.

Carneh killed the four people because of his obsession with Peterson, prosecutors have alleged.

The Larsons were shot; Peterson was beaten and stabbed and Marks, who was the primary target, had been beaten, stabbed and shot.

After the slayings, King County sheriff's investigators searched Carneh's house and found a photo of Peterson, a ring belonging to Marks, luggage with the Larsons' names on it, a car stereo identified as coming from Marks' Monte Carlo, a handgun and bloody clothes.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com