USA - Washington. Joseph McEnroe was sentenced to life in prison without parole for slaughtering 2 children and 4 adults

Joseph McEnroe was sentenced today to life in prison without possibility of parole for slaughtering six members of his then-girlfriend's family on Christmas Eve 2007. A King County Superior Court jury announced its decision after deliberating for more than three days and concluding that there was not unanimous agreement among them for the death penalty. McEnroe, 36, White, was convicted on March 25 of the six murders in Carnation, about 25 miles east of Seattle. His girlfriend at the time, Michele Anderson, also has been charged in the killings, and she faces trial in the fall. According to prosecutors, Anderson and McEnroe first killed Anderson's parents, - Wayne, 60, and Judy, 61, a postal worker - at their Carnation home. Then they allegedly turned their guns on 6-year-old Olivia Anderson and her brother, Nathan, 3, who were shot to death alongside their parents, Scott Anderson, 30, and Erika Mantle Anderson, 32, as all four arrived for a Christmas Eve celebration. Prosecutor Scott O'Toole said the original motive for the crime was because Anderson felt slighted by her parents and was angry because they had begun demanding she and McEnroe pay rent to live in the mobile home on the property. The prosecution had asked for the death penalty and had worked hard to convince the jury. Eight members of the jury voted for death, but that requires a unanimous decision.