SEATTLE, Dec 29: A woman and her boyfriend were charged on Friday in the Christmas Eve massacre of three generations of her family, including two young children whom prosecutors say watched their parents die.

Michele Anderson, the daughter of the two oldest victims, and boyfriend Joseph McEnroe could face the death penalty if convicted of the killings in Carnation, a town near Seattle.

“In the span of one hour, the defendants had turned this family’s Christmas Eve celebration into a scene of mass murder,” King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in a statement.

Anderson and McEnroe, both 29 years old, are charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder. Satterberg said he may seek the death penalty after their Jan 9 arraignment.

Investigators said they still lack a clear motive for the crime. Satterberg said Anderson believed her brother owed her money and she seemed angry at her parents for a lack of support.

Anderson and McEnroe entered her parents’ home armed with handguns on Monday and first killed her father, Wayne Anderson, with one shot to the head, according to the prosecutor.

Then they shot to death her mother, Judy Anderson, when she came out of a back room where she had been wrapping presents, Satterberg said.

The couple hid the parents’ bodies and waited 30 to 45 minutes before her brother, Scott, and his family arrived for dinner. Anderson and McEnroe shot Scott multiple times, the prosecutor said.

To eliminate any witnesses, the couple turned and killed Scott’s wife, Erika, who tried to call the police emergency number, he said. Finally, McEnroe apologised to the children, 6-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan, and shot them in the head, Satterberg said.—Reuters