Michael Boysen Pleads Not Guilty on Double Murder Charges

Michael Chadd Boysen was arraigned this morning at the King County Courthouse in Seattle and pleaded not guilty to two counts of Aggravated Murder in the First Degree for the alleged murder of his grandparents Norma and Robert Taylor in the Renton area last month.

The Taylors were murdered March 9 and police tracked Boysen to an Oregon motel several days later where he was eventually taken into custody and rushed to the hospital to care for self-infliceted wounds.

A case setting hearing is scheduled April 18 at the King County Courthouse. The case has been assigned to Judge Douglass North. If convicted as charged, aggravated murder carries two possible punishments, either the death penalty or life in prison without release.

King County prosecutors have less than 30 days to decide whether or not to file written notice of a special sentencing proceeding to determine whether or not the death penalty should be imposed, or whether sufficient mitigating circumstances exist to merit leniency. Prosecutors say the decision will include a careful examination of all the evidence.