SEATTLE -- A judge on Thursday gave the public defender's office two weeks to find a new attorney for Michele Anderson, who is charged along with her then boyfriend with murdering six members of her family on Christmas Eve in Carnation.

Anderson and Joseph McEnroe pleaded not guilty to the charges, but Anderson contacted KOMO News from jail in June to confess to the killings and say she wants to be put to death.

"They lied to me at the arraignment. They said I wasn't allowed to plead guilty," she said.

"I need to be executed for everything that I've done," Anderson said. "Deciding that I want to die was the most difficult decision I've ever had to make, and I was able to make it without a second thought because I know what I've done and I want to take responsibility for it."

Her public defenders, Cindy Arends and Kevin Dolan, asked to step down as her attorneys after Anderson contacted KOMO and asked to die.

Calling Anderson mentally ill, the two said they did not want to participate in her suicide mission to receive the death penalty.

According to prosecutors, Judy Anderson was wrapping presents for her family on Christmas Eve, when gunfire erupted in her living room and her own daughter began a bloodbath that left Anderson and five other members of her family dead.

She ran into the room and saw McEnroe shoot her husband of 38 years, Wayne, prosecutors alleged. Judy started screaming and turned his gun on her. She fell to the floor, not yet dead. McEnroe apologized and shot her again, this time in the head, according to a police affidavit.

After killing her parents, Michele and McEnroe burned some of the evidence in a backyard fire pit, reloaded their weapons and waited for Michele's brother and his family to arrive, according to prosecutors.

When Scott Anderson, 32, walked in the door, he spotted his sister with a gun and charged her, court documents say. Michele and McEnroe allegedly shot him multiple times. Michele then allegedly shot her sister-in-law, Erica, 32, who still managed to climb over a couch and call 911.

According to the affidavit, McEnroe then killed the Andersons' young children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan.

In phone calls to KOMO from jail, Michele Anderson said despite asking to die, she was, and is, of her right mind.

"I've been assessed by three different mental health specialists and they've all said I'm sane and competent," she said.

In court on Thursday, Anderson said she wants public defender Colleen O'Conner to be her attorney.

But by court rules, O'Conner can't serve as Anderson's lawyer because she's already working on another potential death penalty case.

O'Connor wants a judge to dismiss her from that other case so she can represent Anderson.

Because of the difficulty finding a new lawyer, the judge pushed back to September 22 a deadline for prosecutors to decide whether to pursue the death penalty against Anderson.

If a public defender can't be found, the court may have to find a private attorney to represent Anderson.

Previous coverage:

Judge agrees to new lawyers for Anderson

Anderson: Anger, mercy fueled Carnation killings

Carnation killings suspect: I committed other crimes

Suspect in Carnation killings seeks death penalty

Christmas Eve murder suspect to be evaluated

Thank God they didn't go there

Carnation residents gather to honor shooting victims

'I could never forgive what they did'

In Carnation, everybody knows your name

Death penalty a possibility in slayings

Prosecutors: Woman, boyfriend admit killing 6 family members

Daughter, boyfriend arrested in Carnation murders