SEATTLE (AP) — A man convicted of killing six members of his ex-girlfriend’s family broke down on the stand Monday as he described the murders that happened on Christmas Eve 2007.

KCPQ reports 36-year-old Joseph McEnroe, called the Carnation killer, was on the stand for the second time in his sentencing trial.

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Prosecutors say McEnroe and his former girlfriend, Michele Anderson, shot her parents, brother, sister-in-law, 5-year-old niece and 3-year-old nephew in Carnation, Wa. They said the rampage was clearly premeditated and that McEnroe believed Anderson had been slighted by her family.

McEnroe said on the stand that Anderson brainwashed him into thinking her family was dangerous. He claimed that during the time they were dating, he had to convince Anderson to not kill people.

The two allegedly attacked Anderson’s father, Wayne, first. McEnroe said Anderson’s gun jammed, so he fired first, shooting at Wayne, then at Anderson’s mother, Judy, who was by the kitchen sink.

McEnroe broke down as he was describing how he cleaned up part of the crime scene.

“I went and moved Judy first and put a bag over her head because I couldn’t look at her and see the emptiness where she should be,” McEnroe said.

McEnroe claims the two killed Anderon’s brother, Scott, and his wife, Erica, and their two children when they arrived at the home so there would be no witnesses.

Jurors deliberated for less than two days before finding McEnroe guilty of six counts of first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances in King County Superior Court last month. McEnroe faces either life in prison without parole or execution.

Anderson is also awaiting trial on the murders.

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