King County (
Washington)
Prosecutor Dan Satterberg (pictured) announced that his office will no
longer seek the death penalty against Michele Anderson after a jury
returned a life sentence for her co-defendant, Joseph McEnroe. McEnroe
and Anderson were charged with killing six members of Anderson's family
in 2007 in what Satterberg called "one of the worse crimes we've ever
had in King County." Satterberg explained his decision in a news
conference on July 29, saying, "To proceed with the death penalty
against defendant Anderson, in light of the sentence imposed [on]
defendant McEnroe, would not be in the interest of justice." Pam Mantle,
the mother of one of the victims, said she was relieved by the
decision. “It’s been devastating for all of our friends and family,”
said Mantle. “We’re all just worn out from the whole thing. It’s almost
eight years.“ Less than one week ago, on July 23, after a highly
publicized six-month trial, a King County jury sentenced a mentally ill
defendant,
Christopher Monfort,
to a life sentence in the killing of a Seattle police officer. Anderson
has spent time in a state mental institution during her pretrial
incarceration, portending extensive presentation of mental health
evidence if the death penalty was pursued in her case. Seeking the death
penalty against Anderson, McEnroe, and Monfort has cost King County
taxpayers more than $15 million in defense costs alone. A recent
Seattle University study found
that cases where the death penalty is sought cost an additional $1
million, on average, compared to non-death penalty cases.
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