The Region : Man Guilty in 4 Murders

A man who said that voices from a television set told him to kill his parents, sister and a niece was convicted of four counts of first-degree murder with special circumstances that could bring the death penalty. Barry Wayne McNamara, 37, was convicted by a Santa Barbara Superior Court jury that deliberated for two days. The panel rejected defense contentions that McNamara was too mentally ill to have planned his actions. Judge Patrick McMahon will hold a sanity hearing next week, before jurors hear evidence in the penalty phase. The judge could order McNamara committed. McNamara’s father, Elger Wayne McNamara, 57, his sister, Diane McNamara Trenner, 31, and her 4-year-old daughter, Kellin Brooke Trenner, were shot to death with a rifle at their mountainside ranch Jan. 5. His mother, Florence Barbara McNamara, 57, died after her skull was crushed with a heavy stone.