SEATTLE _ Last Friday, a judge ordered another mental evaluation

of Dayva Cross, who is accused of stabbing and killing his wife and two

stepdaughters in the family’s Snoqualmie home in 1999. The ruling forces

jury selection in Cross’s trial to be postponed following a competency

hearing.

As of press time, no date had been set for the hearing, which will

determine whether Cross, 41, is able to stand trial for killing

Anouchka Baldwin and two of her daughters, Salome Holly and Amanda Baldwin.

If Cross is able to stand trial, prosecution and defense attorneys

will begin selecting a jury, a process that could take between two to

three weeks, said Dan Donoghue of the King County Prosecutor’s

Office. Prior to the judge’s ruling, jury selection was scheduled to begin this

week, with potential jurors filling out a questionnaire that would be used by

attorneys to reduce the pool down to 12.

Donoghue said he didn’t know how large the pool of potential

jurors was, but it would be “enough to impanel a jury.” The case will be

heard before Superior Court Judge Joan DuBuque, who granted the

competency-hearing request.

Cross is accused of using a butcher knife to murder Anouchka,

37, Salome, 18, and Amanda, 15, on March 6, 1999. He faces three

first-degree counts of aggravated murder. King County Prosecutor

Norm Maleng is seeking the death penalty against Cross.

Cross’s attorney, Mark Larranaga, has said he will pursue an

insanity defense and will reportedly have at least three doctors testify at the

trial that his client is mentally ill. A message left at Larranaga’s office in

Seattle seeking comment about the trial was not returned. DuBuque has

ordered attorneys not to discuss the trial until a jury is selected.

In addition to the murder charges, Cross faces a count of first-degree

kidnapping. After allegedly killing his three victims, Cross reportedly

held another stepdaughter, Mellissa Baldwin, captive in a room of

the family’s home on Southeast Reinig Road. She was able to escape and

call 911 after he fell asleep.

Sheriff’s deputies reportedly found the victims inside the house and

discovered Cross sitting on a bed, smoking a cigarette.

Cross would later confess to murdering his wife and stepdaughters

at the King County Sheriff’s substation in North Bend. A probable cause

document records him as saying, “How can you feel good about doing

something like this?” Two days after the

murders, he attempted suicide while being held in Seattle, which left him

partially paralyzed.