At the request of the attorneys for the defendants, a decision on whether to seek the death penalty for the Christmas Eve murders of six family members – four of them from Black Diamond – has been delayed until late this summer.

King County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg has set Aug. 4 as the new deadline for his decision. It earlier had been extended to May 5.

The lawyers for Joseph McEnroe and Michele Anderson have asked for additional time to compile mitigation reports for review by Satterberg, according to Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the prosecutor.

Satterberg said the latest extension is the last one in what is his first potential death-penalty case since being elected prosecuting attorney last year.

McEnroe and Anderson are each charged with six counts of aggravated murder in the first degree. They are accused of killing six members of Anderson’s family last Christmas Eve in Carnation.

The victims included Scott and Erica Anderson of Black Diamond. They and their children – Olivia, 6, and Nathan, 3 – were visiting Scott Anderson’s parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, the other victims, at the latters’ Carnation home for a Christmas celebration. All were shot to death.

McEnroe and Anderson have been jailed since being arrested two days after the murders were discovered.