Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe charged in murder of 6 of Michele's family members on Xmas Eve 2007/ Prosecutors can seek death penalty/ Oct. 10, 2011, trial date set

Michele Anderson, who says she killed her family on Christmas Eve 2007, railed against her attorneys in court Thursday, calling them dishonest and unqualified, and asked a judge to appoint new legal counsel.

Michele Anderson, who says she killed six members of her family on Christmas Eve 2007, railed against her attorneys in court Thursday, calling them dishonest and unqualified, and asked a judge to appoint new legal counsel.

At the same time, Anderson urged King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor James Konat to drop charges against her former boyfriend and co-defendant Joseph McEnroe, saying she alone was responsible for the slayings of her parents, her brother and his wife and their two young children.

She also asked that Konat charge her with kidnapping for forcing McEnroe to participate in the killings at her parents' Carnation home.

Konat said that he would not drop charges against McEnroe and has no plans of amending the charges against Anderson. McEnroe waived his presence at Thursday's hearing.

Anderson and McEnroe, both 31, are accused of fatally shooting her parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, during a Christmas Eve gathering at their home. When her brother Scott Anderson and his wife, Erica, and their children, ages 5 and 3, arrived later that evening, they, too, were shot, prosecutors said.

If found guilty, Anderson and McEnroe face only two possible sentences for the six counts of aggravated murder: execution, or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

They likely will be tried next year.

In June 2008, Anderson told The Seattle Times during a jailhouse interview that she and McEnroe killed her family in a fit of rage, claiming she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse.

"I want the most severe punishment, which would be the death penalty," Anderson told The Times. "I think if I kill a bunch of people, I'm not sure I deserve to live. ... I want to waive my trial."

It isn't clear why Anderson wants to fire her lawyers, Lisa Mulligan and Hal Palmer, who work for the public-defense agency Society of Counsel Representing Accused Persons. Mulligan told Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell on Thursday that they had not spoken with Anderson since Sept. 15.

Mulligan said that Anderson believes her rights have been violated by her new defense team. Anderson also believes that Mulligan and Palmer committed malpractice, are unqualified, dishonest and have failed to address the issues she has asked them to, Mulligan explained in court.

After the hearing Mulligan declined to comment about Anderson's claims.

Last year, Anderson dismissed her first defense team after Ramsdell noted "a breakdown in communication" between Anderson and attorneys Kevin Dolan and Cindy Arends. The strained relations occurred after Anderson contacted the media to admit guilt and to say that she wanted to be executed.

On Thursday, Ramsdell ordered prosecution and defense lawyers to return to court next month for an open hearing on Anderson's claims.

"Nothing she [Anderson] has said this far rises to the level of her needing new counsel," Konat said after the hearing. "She's entitled to counsel. She's not entitled to counsel of her choice."

Anderson has recently contacted the King County Office of Public Defense, which assigns public-defense agencies and private attorneys in criminal cases, with the hope of finding a new lawyer, Mulligan said.

Mulligan, speaking on Anderson's behalf, said that Anderson believes that other lawyers won't take her case because they believe she is a difficult client.

This is a vividly detailed account of the murders. The first line of the article, really says a lot.


Carnation suspects tell officers of victims' frantic, final moments
By SCOTT GUTIERREZ

Twice wounded, her husband and his parents already gunned down, Erica Anderson huddled with her children and pleaded with Joseph McEnroe to spare their lives.
"You don't have to do this."

But her pleas prompted no mercy. McEnroe apologized before telling his victims, "Yes, we do."





Then he fired the last blasts in a Christmas Eve shooting spree that killed three generations of a family in a rural Carnation home.

He shot Anderson a final time, then turned a .357 revolver on 6-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan.

The final, frantic moments of the lives of six people were outlined Friday in murder charges filed against McEnroe, 29, a Target clerk, and his unemployed girlfriend, Michele Anderson, also 29.

The defendants are in the King County Jail with bail denied, accused of killing Michele's parents, her brother, his wife and their two children.

Each faces six counts of aggravated first-degree murder -- the only crime punishable by death in Washington. King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg has 30 days from the couple's scheduled Jan. 9 arraignment to decide whether to pursue capital punishment. The only other sentencing option under the law for the crimes upon conviction is life imprisonment without release.

"Given the magnitude of this crime, I pledge to give this case serious consideration for the state's ultimate penalty," Satterberg said.

Michele Anderson planned to confront her family over money that she felt her brother owed her and anger over disputes with her parents, court documents say. She told police that she was tired of "everyone stepping on her" and upset that her parents were pressuring her to start paying rent for the space where she lived on their property. She and McEnroe lived in a mobile home about 200 yards from her parents' home.

They were intent on killing everyone if "problems did not get resolved," court documents say. But Satterberg cautioned that authorities may never fully understand what sparked the killings.

"That is part of our investigation, but a search for a rational motive is often a frustrating endeavor," the newly elected prosecutor said. "In the end, what motive could you find that would make sense of this senseless slaying of the Anderson family?"

After returning to the crime scene Wednesday, authorities say, the couple confessed to the killings and offered chilling details about how they gunned down Wayne Anderson, 60, and his wife, Judy, 61; Scott Anderson and his wife, Erica, both 32; and the two children.

Michele Anderson and McEnroe were armed with two handguns -- the revolver and a 9 mm semiautomatic -- purchased legally last summer.

The night of the massacre, Judy Anderson was wrapping gifts for her grandchildren in a backroom as the two defendants drove toward the family home, Satterberg said.

In their account of what happened, sheriff's detectives said Wayne, a longtime Boeing employee, and Judy, a postal carrier, were the first to be killed.

Michele Anderson fired the first shot at her father and missed. Then McEnroe shot him in the head. Hearing the shots, Judy Anderson rushed into the room.

McEnroe shot her once, dropping her to the floor, screaming.

He apologized before shooting her again in the head, court documents say.

In the 45 minutes it took for Scott Anderson's family to arrive for a Christmas celebration, the defendants dragged Wayne's and Judy's bodies to an outbuilding and wiped up blood with towels and rugs. They tossed potential evidence into a fire pit and burned it.

Scott Anderson entered the living room and charged at his sister when she drew the gun. She fired twice, maybe four times, striking him at least once in the neck, court documents say. Erica was shot twice but managed to clamber over a couch to call 911 on a cordless phone.

She was unable to talk before McEnroe ripped the phone from her grasp. He crushed the phone and tore out the batteries, court documents say.

Two sheriff's deputies were dispatched to investigate the 911 call, which dispatchers noted sounded like people arguing at a party. The deputies stopped outside a locked front gate, which blocked a dirt road to the home, and opted not to go any further. The officers couldn't see the home from the gate, but spoke with a neighbor who didn't hear anything suspicious. They decided to leave without further investigation, a Sheriff's Office spokesman said Friday

That decision has raised questions about whether they could have interrupted the crime or discovered the bloodbath sooner. Michele Anderson had closed and locked the gate after realizing the 911 call had gone through, court documents say.

Sheriff Sue Rahr, who joined Satterberg at Friday's news conference, promised an investigation into the deputies' response.

"Our priority at this point is to get the criminal investigation done first. But we will be looking into that," she said.

Investigators doubt that deputies would have been in time to save the Andersons, but the suspects likely still were at the home, Rahr said, meaning they might have made earlier arrests.

McEnroe allowed Erica Anderson to huddle with her children before he killed her. He was designated to shoot the children because Michele wasn't up to it, although both wanted to leave no witnesses behind, court documents say.

McEnroe apologized to each child before shooting each in the head at close range. Nathan had picked up the phone batteries from the floor and looked up at McEnroe, who told police the child gave him "the look of complete comprehension ... as if he understood."

In trying to rationalize why the couple killed the children, McEnroe explained three times that "I didn't want them to turn us in," court documents say.

After the slayings, the defendants first drove toward Canada to escape but changed their minds and turned around, headed for Oregon. They switched directions again and returned to her parents' property, which by then was in the midst of a full-scale homicide investigation.

One of Judy Anderson's co-workers at the Carnation post office had stopped by to check on her friend, who was uncharacteristically absent from work. She went past the gate and saw the bodies through the windows, court documents say.

Hours later, detectives were notified about two people outside police lines who claimed to live on the property, court documents say. Police noted that neither defendant appeared alarmed or curious about why police were scouring their grounds. In separate interviews, the couple -- who met six years ago through an online dating service -- initially said they were going to Las Vegas to get married and had stopped by on Christmas Eve to surprise Michele's parents, court documents say.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg and Sheriff Sue Rahr announce that the suspects in the Carnation killings will be charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder. "I pledge to give this case serious consideration for the state's ultimate penalty," he said.
Satterberg has decided against seeking the death penalty against Collins, in part because he was barely 18 when the crime occurred, prosecutor's spokesman Dan Donohoe said.

Collins maintains he did not commit the crime.

Satterberg said he would consider input from the victims' family and any mitigating circumstances in the Andersons' slayings.

Meanwhile, relatives, friends and residents in Carnation, about 30 miles east of Seattle, continue to struggle to come to terms with the slayings.

Mary Victoria Anderson, Michele's half-sister, has been in seclusion, said Mark Bennett, a friend who is answering questions on her behalf.

"I think reality has kind of hit everybody, the anger has turned to pain and back to anger, and now the question of why. She isn't in any condition to talk to anyone," he said.

As of Friday, no public memorial service had been planned, he said.

McEnroe's cousin, Regina Turner, who grew up with him in Santa Clara, Calif., said she couldn't reconcile the allegations against him with the video-game-playing, eager-to-please loner she knew.

"It's hard to put together this picture that he was this brutal person who didn't mind shooting someone or wiping up blood," said Turner, 31. "He wasn't a fighter. He didn't like confrontation. He wasn't your aggressor at all."

Her family is now "just trying to get through the process of what happened" and does not want to think about the possibility of the death penalty, she said.
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Like any proud grandparent, Pam Mantle shows off photos of the two grandchildren: an adorable girl sitting on her new bike, and a little blond boy looking bewildered by the attention cast on him during his second birthday party.

Inside Mantle's Snohomish home, framed photos of Olivia and Nathan sit next to the television and on the kitchen counter, inches from a stack of Christmas cards and rows of fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. The photos are among the few images Mantle has left of the children who were slain on Christmas Eve two years ago.

Olivia, 5, Nathan, 3, and their parents, Erica and Scott Anderson, were among six people shot to death at the Carnation-area home of Scott's parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, who also were killed in one of the state's worst mass slayings. Erica was Mantle's daughter. Michele Anderson, 31, Scott's sister and the daughter of Wayne and Judy Anderson, and her former boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, 31, have been charged in the killings.

Mantle and her daughter, Sara Van Wyk, say they are flooded with memories of Erica, Scott and the children. But only recently have they been willing to sit down and talk about the deaths and their impact on their family.

"I wake up every day at 3 a.m. and I think of them. Usually I get myself so worked up thinking about what happened," Mantle said.

Mantle, 51, said that she can't stop thinking about Erica and Scott's last 15 minutes of life. In her final moments, according to court papers, Erica Anderson huddled with her children and pleaded for their lives. All three were shot.

Michele Anderson and McEnroe are each charged with six counts of aggravated murder and could face the death penalty for their alleged roles in what prosecutors believe were carefully planned slayings.

Both mother and daughter support the death penalty in the case, but they realize that even if a jury sends the two to death row it could be decades before their executions would be carried out. With two years gone by since the slayings and a trial yet to be scheduled, Mantle and Van Wyk said they are trying to remain patient.

"We're going to be old and gray by the time all of this is over," Mantle says.

According to court documents, Michele Anderson told police she was tired "of everybody stepping on her," and she had decided if her family did not start showing her respect by Dec. 24, 2007, she would kill them all. Michele Anderson and McEnroe lived in a trailer on Wayne and Judy Anderson's property.

Van Wyk, 31, said that the slayings have left her riddled with anxiety and terrified about leaving her sons, ages 13 months and 4 years, alone with anyone.

"I am never going to be the same person again," Van Wyk said, looking toward her 4-year-old son as he played with a toy helicopter.

Strained relationship

Mantle, who was just 17 when Erica was born, said the two "grew up together." Erica was never one to break the rules — she was always home by curfew, didn't buy a lottery ticket until she was 18 and didn't drink until she was 21, her sister said.

Van Wyk said that she always looked up to her big sister, who was 3 ½ years older. The two loved to drink pots of coffee and play cribbage — the card games would get so intense that nobody else would want to join in.

Scott and Erica started dating when they were seniors at Tolt High School, and were soon inseparable. They got married in Las Vegas when both were 24, Mantle said.

Mantle's husband, Tony, said he hired Scott to work on a construction crew the summer after he graduated from the University of Washington. Scott Anderson stayed with Albrecht Birkenbuel Inc. and was a crew superintendent by the time he was killed.

"He had the respect of everybody," Tony Mantle said. "He was a good listener, and everybody knew Scott wouldn't ask them to do anything he wouldn't do himself. He was a big, strong guy and a really caring guy."

Erica admired Wayne and Judy Anderson from the start, Mantle said. Judy Anderson was a well-liked postal carrier in Carnation, and her husband was a veteran Boeing engineer.

But, her family said, relations with Michele Anderson were always strained.

"Romeo and Juliet"

Michele Anderson and Van Wyk attended school together but were never friendly.

After her arrest, Anderson told police that she had lent her brother money and hadn't been repaid, according to charging documents. She was angry with her parents for telling her that she had to pay rent.

In June 2008, Anderson told The Seattle Times during a jailhouse interview that she and McEnroe killed her family in a fit of rage, claiming she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse. But she — and McEnroe — have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

While Michele Anderson has said in court that she forced McEnroe into helping her out, Mantle and Van Wyk believe he helped her voluntarily.

Mantle calls Anderson's willingness to take the blame "a Romeo and Juliet" scenario.

"He was locked up in her delusion," Mantle said of McEnroe.

Mantle attends every court hearing for Michele Anderson and McEnroe. She says she plans to do the same when the two defendants are tried because she doesn't want Michele Anderson "to think she got away with anything."

"I'm never going to forgive her," Mantle said.

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Dec. 24, 2009 -- Lawyers for a Washington state woman charged with killing her parents and four other relatives on Christmas Eve 2007 are fighting to spare her from execution.

Michele Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, are both charged under the state's death penalty statute, Seattlepi.com reported Thursday. They allegedly shot Wayne and Judy Anderson at their home in Carnation and then killed Anderson's brother, Scott, his wife, Erica, and their children, Olivia, 6, and Nathan, 3, when they showed up to spend Christmas Eve there.

Anderson, who was arrested almost immediately, allegedly told police she felt her parents did not pay enough attention to her. She and McEnroe were living on the parents' property at the time of the massacre.

While lawyers have been attacking the state death penalty law, Anderson has said in letters from prison she wants to be put to death.

Pam Mantle, Erica Anderson's mother, said she is tired of the slow pace of the proceedings.

"I'm getting tired of waiting to find out when we'll have a trial," Mantle said after a recent hearing.

A Carnation woman and her boyfriend armed themselves with handguns on Christmas Eve and walked over to her parents' house, determined to kill them, according to police documents released in the slaying of six family members.

The daughter, Michele Kristen Anderson, 29, and the boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, also 29, each shot Wayne Anderson in the head and McEnroe shot Judith Anderson twice, according to a police document released today.

Then, when Michele Anderson's brother and sister-in-law, Scott and Erica Anderson, and their two young children arrived shortly after, she and Joseph McEnroe shot the family of four to death as well, worried that they would otherwise be witnesses to the slayings of the Andersons' parents, according to the police report.

The couple was denied bail by a judge today and will remain in the King County Jail pending murder charges, which are expected Friday.

A probable-cause report from the King County sheriff's department released today spelled out how police believe the killings took place.

According to the documents, at about 5 p.m. the suspects walked about 200 yards from the mobile home where they lived on her parents' rural property, to the home of Wayne and Judy Anderson. Within 30 minutes of arriving, Anderson shot her father, 60, with a 9 mm handgun and then McEnroe shot him with a .357-caliber Magnum. McEnroe then shot Judith Anderson, 61, twice, police allege.

The suspects then dragged the bodies from the home to a backyard shed.

A short time later, Scott and Erica Anderson, both 32, arrived with their two children, ages 6 and 3. Police allege McEnroe shot the parents. He then shot both children in the head.

Police allege that Michele Anderson also shot her brother and his wife.

The couple was planning to escape to Canada when they were arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of homicide after they showed up at the crime scene, a wooded property about three miles from Carnation.

A financial dispute might have led to the Christmas Eve slayings, according to a law-enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

The possible motive emerged late Wednesday after the arrests. One law-enforcement source familiar with the investigation said there was a dispute within the family over money and that Michele Anderson believed she had been mistreated and taken advantage of by relatives.



Ben Anderson, the grandson of the two oldest victims, told reporters outside his grandparents' property late Wednesday that money could have been a factor in the deaths.

"She felt she wasn't loved enough and everyone didn't appreciate her and she was pushed out of everyone's life," he said, referring to Michele Anderson.

He was the only member of the Anderson family present at the jail courtroom this afternoon, at a hearing during which Michele Anderson and McEnroe waived their presence through their respective attorneys.

Ben Anderson held back tears and peered through the courtroom's spectator window as McEnroe briefly entered the courtroom in a white, ultra-security uniform, before being led out by guards.

It's unclear why Anderson and McEnroe returned to the home Wednesday, as it swarmed with detectives and crime-scene investigators, or why police became suspicious of them. But they didn't come to turn themselves in, King County sheriff's spokesman John Urquhart said.

"I don't know what brought them here, [but] they arrived after we got here. They came to our attention and were arrested," he said.

"A lot of yelling"

Sheriff's officials said a 911 call was made from the house at 5:13 p.m. Monday and lasted about 10 seconds. The police dispatcher didn't hear anyone talking, but told investigators there was "a lot of yelling in the background," but it "sounded more like party noise than angry, heated arguing," Urquhart said.

After the call was disconnected, the dispatcher placed two calls to the home, but the calls immediately went to voice mail, Urquhart said.

The deputies were sent out at 5:19 p.m. and arrived at 5:45 p.m., Urquhart said. When they found a locked gate — which isn't in sight of the house — they didn't go farther onto the property. According to the dispatcher's log, the deputies reported: "Gate is locked, unable to gain access."

Detectives haven't established a firm sequence of the evening's events, but Urquhart said the 911 call appears to have come near the end of the slayings.

The male suspect

McEnroe was living in Glendale, Ariz., when he met Michele Anderson five years ago on an online dating site, said McEnroe's mother, Sean Johnson of Minneapolis. He moved to the Puget Sound region shortly after they met and planned to marry her, Johnson said.

Johnson said she was shocked that her eldest son — whom she described as a "good Christian" — was arrested in connection with the slayings of three generations of the Anderson family. Johnson said she hasn't had much contact with McEnroe since he cut ties with his family after a dispute over money. She said her most recent information was that he was working at a local Target store.

The Andersons

Boeing spokesman Peter Conte said Wayne Anderson was a Boeing engineer. Conte said the company was contacted by authorities Wednesday and told that Anderson "was the victim of a crime."

Neighbors of son Scott Anderson said detectives had been to their Black Diamond neighborhood Wednesday to determine when the young family had last been seen.

A sheriff's deputy knocked on Mike Gould's door, and Gould told him he'd last seen the family on Christmas Eve, just before they left their house to visit relatives in Carnation.

"Scott was a friendly guy," Gould said. "He worked insane hours, and when he wasn't working, he was devoted to his family."

Scott Anderson would often visit Gould in his home metal shop where he refurbishes antique armor. Scott Anderson, who worked in construction and painted cars as a sideline, enjoyed "talking shop," Gould said.

Erica was a stay-at-home mom, he said. The couple's children often played in their backyard and waved at neighbors. "The boy would take great amusement by waving to me," Gould said. "They were great kids."

Around 8 a.m. Wednesday, one of Judy Anderson's co-workers stopped by the house in the 1800 block of 346th Avenue Northeast after Anderson failed to show up for her job as a mail carrier in Carnation. The co-worker discovered the bodies and called police.

People who knew the family said Judy and Wayne Anderson had lived in the home since the early 1980s and later purchased the adjacent property, where the mobile home is located. A family friend said the couple had three adult children, Scott Anderson and the suspect Michele Anderson — who recently moved into the mobile home with McEnroe — and another daughter, Mary, who lives in North Bend.

Friends and neighbors

Family friend Mark Bennett, 58, talked to the Andersons on Christmas Eve and made plans to get together the following day. But when Bennett called on Christmas Day, his call went to voice mail. He told reporters he went to the property Wednesday morning after seeing the home on television news.

"I didn't want to believe what I heard and saw," he said, "so I drove over."

Bennett said he used to run a coffee shop with Mary Anderson. He said Mary Anderson was particularly close with her mother and was with other family members late Wednesday.

"I don't think it's fully set in yet," Bennett said.

A former neighbor, Susan Malin of Renton, said Judy Anderson was "very nice, very sweet." But the family mostly kept to themselves and weren't overly friendly with neighbors, she said.

Another neighbor, Deborah Van Westrienen, said most people in the quiet neighborhood of secluded homes "mostly keep to themselves," choosing to live a country lifestyle where "you never hear anything but coyotes."

The Carnation reaction

In Carnation, a town of just under 2,000 people about 25 miles east of Seattle, residents expressed shock that a mass slaying could happen in their sleepy community, where ponies and baby goats often graze along main thoroughfares.

The Ixtapa Mexican restaurant on Carnation's main drag was one stop on Judy Anderson's mail route, said bar manager Cherrie Provo.

"I pass her every day when I'm going to work. She always seems pleasant ... but I wouldn't say I know her well," Provo said. "It's a horrible, sad thing."

At Pete's Grill & Pub, manager Nikki Larson said the slayings and the influx of police and news crews through the day were nearly the sole topics of conversation.

"We usually see newspeople out here during the floods. We would never expect anything like this," Larson said. "Everybody's in a state of shock. There's been a lot of speculation and worry.

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Northeast Minneapolis woman said she was in shock after learning her 29-year-old son stands accused of killing six people in a home near Seattle, Wash.

Joe McEnroe and his girlfriend, Michele Anderson, 28, are being held without bail in a Washington jail. According to court documents, both admitted to investigators their involvement in a Christmas Eve massacre.

According to King County investigator John Pavlovich, Anderson and McEnroe intended to kill Anderson's parents, Judith and Wayne Anderson.

"Within 30 minutes of arriving, Michele shot Wayne with the 9mm and Joe shot him with the .357," according to Pavlovich's statement of probable cause. "Michele and Joe drug the bodies to a shed in the backyard in an attempt to hide them."

Then Michele Anderson's brother Scott, his wife, Erika Anderson, and their two children, 6-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan arrived at the residence in Carnation, Wash.

According to court documents, knowing that Scott Anderson and his family were potential witnesses, McEnroe and Michele Anderson shot them. Michele Anderson told investigators that McEnroe shot the two children, shooting them each in the head.

"Unbelievable," said McEnroe's mother, Sean Johnson, who lives in Minneapolis. "Because this is not what Joe is, who Joe is."

Johnson said she's been estranged from her son for the past five years.

"One time he called us and I owed him some money and it was like, he just went and called up and said he didn't want anything to do with the family at all," said Johnson.

She said her son met Michele Anderson via an Internet chat room, and moved to Washington six years ago to live with her.

Johnson said, she wonders if she could have prevented this tragedy if she had maintained a relationship with her son.

"I'm living with that guilt right now," she said.

According to Johnson, she is having a hard time reconciling her memories of her little boy, with the image investigators are sharing; that of a heartless, brutal killer.

"I can't believe he's changed that tremendously that he would be this kind of monster this woman [Anderson] says he is. I only see one monster," said Johnson.

According to the investigator's statement of probable cause, McEnroe admitted to his involvement in the murders, including specific details of the scene that only an involved party would have known.

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The woman and her boyfriend accused of killing six members of her family on Christmas Eve at Carnation pleaded not guilty Thursday to six counts of aggravated first-degree murder.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg is still deciding whether to seek the death penalty if Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe are convicted.

Anderson and McEnroe stood quietly with their lawyers during the arraignment Wednesday as family members of the victims and friends sat in the courtroom separated from the defendants by a pane of glass. They held each other and wept.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney James Konant asked Anderson and McEnroe whether they understood each charge against them. The defendants answered yes in barely audible voices, so quietly that Conant at one point said to Michelle Anderson, whose long brown hair hung down in front of her face, "I'm sorry, you'll have to answer out loud."

Their lawyers entered the pleas of not guilty on their behalf.

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 her daughter's boyfriend shoot her husband of 38 years, Wayne, prosecutors alleged. Judy started screaming and Joe McEnroe 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.

Satterberg said long-standing bitterness and a perceived family debt might have been factors, but said he was at a loss to assign a motive to the crime police say McEnroe and Michele Anderson, both 29, have admitted committing.

After killing her parents, Anderson 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.

When Scott Anderson, 32, walked in the door, he spotted his sister with a gun and charged her. Michele Anderson and McEnroe shot him multiple times. Michele then 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 Anderson's young children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan.

Michele Anderson told detectives her brother, a carpenter, owed her money she had loaned to him years earlier, and that she was upset with her parents because they did not take her side. Additionally, she said her parents were pressuring her to start paying rent for staying on their property.

"Michele stated that she was tired of everybody stepping on her," the court papers say. "She stated that she was upset with her parents and her brother and that if the problems did not get resolved on Dec. 24, then her intent was definitely to kill everybody."

After the killings, McEnroe and Anderson first drove north toward Canada, then south toward Oregon arriving at neither destination, then decided to go back and pretend to discover the bodies, prosecutors said.

When they arrived at the home, investigators were already there. Detectives, curious that neither McEnroe nor Michele Anderson asked what had happened at the bustling crime scene, began questioning them and they eventually confessed, according to the documents.

After Thursday's court appearance, Ben Anderson, the grandson of Wayne and Judy, and uncle of the two slain children, said if the prosecutor asks him, he will say he does not want the death penalty.

Anderson said the death penalty is "too easy." He would rather the pair spend the rest of their lives in prison.

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Offender Record
Offender ID: 1850836
Offender Name: MICHELE KRISTEN ANDERSON
Date of Birth: 08/11/1978
Age: 31
Custody Status: In Custody
Location of Offender: King County Jail
Race: White
Gender: Female


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Offender Record
Offender ID: 1850831
Offender Name: JOSEPH THOMAS MCENROE
Date of Birth: 10/29/1978
Age: 31
Custody Status: In Custody
Location of Offender: King County Jail
Race: White
Gender: Male

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IN THE SUPERIOR COURT FOR THE STATE OF WASHINGTONIN AND FOR KING COUNTY)State of Washington, ) Nos. 07-1-08717-2 SEA)07-1-08716-4 SEAPlaintiff, ) ) ORDER ONvs. )MEDIA COVERAGE) Michelle Anderson and)Joseph McEnroe,))Defendants. ))The purpose of this Order is (1) to establish media rules for all proceedingsheld in open court in this matter so as to allow the media reasonable access, and (2) topreserve the dignity and order of those proceedings. This Order is intended to supplement and not supplant the Order of JudgeCheryl Carey entered on January 9, 2008.AT ALL TIMES ALL MEDIA PERSONNEL SHALL TURN OFF ANYAND ALL CELLULAR PHONES, WATCH ALARMS, PAGERS, BEEPERDEVICES, AND ANY OTHER ELECTRONIC DEVICE LIKELY TODISRUPT PROCEEDINGS WHILE COURT IS IN SESSION.
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Information regarding future court dates and other related matters can befound at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.] AND EQUIPMENT1. For purposes of this Order, unless otherwise defined, “camera” includesstill cameras, television cameras, and all other video recording devices, includinghand-held electronic devices, and cellular phones with recording features. “Television camera” includes video cameras and all other video or moving picturerecording devices. “Photograph” includes still photography, televising, andvideotaping, and images taken with other hand-held and cellular phone devices.2. Camera and recording device operators must be representatives of themedia who have obtained the prior permission of the Court. Camera and recordingdevice operators must be familiar with the published Bench-Bar-Press Guidelines andwith the contents of this Order, and shall abide by such Guidelines and Order.3. Only one television camera will be allowed in the Courtroom. That onetelevision camera shall be the “pool” camera and shall share its video feed with mediarequesting the same. The one television camera shall be on a tripod in a fixedlocation designated by the Court prior to commencement of the proceedings. 4. The operator of the television pool camera must arrive at least thirtyminutes before the start of the hearing and shall identify him- or herself to the Court’sbailiff. Selection of the television pool camera shall first be made by agreement of alltelevision camera operators appearing at the hearing. If there is no agreement twenty Order on Media CoverageState v. Michelle Anderson, 07-1-08717-2 SEAState v. Joseph McEnroe, 07-1-08716-4 SEAPage 2 of 6
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minutes prior to the start of the hearing then the Court shall assign the television poolcamera position to an operator on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.5. No fixed or mounted television cameras shall be allowed in the north-southcorridor area directly outside of W813 as their presence would restrict and impede thesafe flow and access to and from that Courtroom.6. The Court will permit the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencerto have one still camera each in the Courtroom. These two still cameras shall be theonly still cameras allowed in the Courtroom. These two cameras shall be “pool”cameras and shall share their pictures with other media representatives requesting thesame, including the Associated Press (AP). The still cameras shall be positioned asdesignated by the Court prior to the proceedings and may not move through theCourtroom during the hearing. 7. The photographers from the Seattle Times and the Seattle Post-Intelligencer must arrive at least ten minutes before the start of the hearing and shallidentify themselves to the Court’s bailiff. If either or both fail to arrive in a timelymanner, or decline to attend, their positions will be assigned to other stillphotographers on a ‘first come, first served’ basis.8. No fixed or mounted still cameras shall be allowed in the north-southcorridor area directly outside of W813 as their presence would restrict and impede thesafe flow and access to and from that Courtroom.9. No camera shall focus on the papers, exhibits, or other documents ofcounsel in such a manner that the contents of these materials can be read or otherwise Order on Media CoverageState v. Michelle Anderson, 07-1-08717-2 SEAState v. Joseph McEnroe, 07-1-08716-4 SEAPage 3 of 6
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discerned by the viewer. This restriction does not apply to documents displayed inopen Court while Court is in session.10. Sidebar conferences shall not be recorded or photographed.11. No flashbulbs, strobe lights, or other artificial lights shall be usedanywhere in the Courtroom.12. Any necessary cables or similar equipment shall run through theCourtroom and Courthouse hallways in a manner that does not interfere with theoperation of the Courtroom or the Courthouse.13. “Pooling” arrangements for cameras and other equipment are the soleresponsibility of the media. In the absence of a media agreement on disputedequipment or personnel issues, the Court may exclude all contesting media from aproceeding in this matter.14. No camera or recording device shall be permitted in the Courtroomwithout the express permission of the Court.15. If a particular participant in a proceeding wishes not to be photographed,the attorneys will bring that to the attention of the Court. If the court determines thata participant should not be photographed in the Courtroom, camera operators shallabide by the Court’s direction. Otherwise, camera operators will be free tophotograph anyone who participates in this proceeding, subject to the otherrequirements of this Order.16. Equipment used in the Courtroom shall be operated in a “quiet” or“silent” mode so as not to interfere, distract or disrupt court proceedings in anymanner. Order on Media CoverageState v. Michelle Anderson, 07-1-08717-2 SEAState v. Joseph McEnroe, 07-1-08716-4 SEAPage 4 of 6
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17. Equipment shall not produce distracting sound or light. Motorized drives,moving lights, flash attachments, or sudden lighting changes shall not be used. 18. Camera equipment, including television and other video recordingequipment, shall not be placed in, set-up, adjusted, or broken down in the Courtroom,nor removed from the Courtroom, while Court is in session.19. Any camera, radio, or recording equipment that is permitted in theCourtroom shall operate only while the Court is in session on the record.20. Reporters may not use personal tape recorders even for note-takingpurposes when Court is in session. GENERAL RULES21. No media interviews of any type shall take place inside of CourtroomW813. 22. Media representatives are expected to present a neat appearance inkeeping with the dignity of the Court, and to be sufficiently familiar with Courtproceedings to conduct themselves so as not to interfere with the proceedings, or todistract counsel, participants, or the Court.23. Coverage of the proceedings shall be subject to the continuingsupervision of the Court. Any violation of the Court’s Media Order is an unlawfulinterference with the proceedings of the Court, and may be the basis for an orderterminating media coverage, a citation for contempt of court, or an order imposingmonetary or other sanctions as provided by law. Dated this _____ day of _______________, 200___. Order on Media CoverageState v. Michelle Anderson, 07-1-08717-2 SEAState v. Joseph McEnroe, 07-1-08716-4 SEAPage 5 of 6
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___________________________________________The Honorable Jeffrey M. RamsdellJudge, King County Superior Court

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How can they plead not guilty after they confessed? It must just be me.

A King County judge ruled Friday that prosecutors can seek the death penalty against a man and woman accused of killing six members of the woman's family in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007.

Defense lawyers for Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe had argued earlier that the death penalty shouldn't apply in their cases. They claimed that the state's aggravated-murder statute is unconstitutional because the list of aggravating factors is far too broad and that "too many people are eligible for the death penalty."

Under state law, a county prosecutor can file an aggravated-murder charge only if a defendant commits premeditated first-degree murder and "one or more aggravating circumstances exist." Aggravating factors can include the assassination of public officials or news reporters, or if multiple victims were killed in a "common scheme," a person was killed in a murder-for-hire plot or a murder was committed "in the course" of another serious crime, such as robbery, arson or kidnapping.

Anderson and McEnroe are each charged with six counts of aggravated murder. The only two possible penalties for aggravated murder are execution or life in prison without parole.

King County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Andrea Vitalich countered the defense argument by saying that even if the judge had agreed that the list of aggravating factors is too long, the defendants could still face the death penalty because the aggravating factor cited in their case -- multiple victims killed in a "common scheme" -- has been on the state's list of aggravating factors since the death penalty was reinstated in 1975.

Superior Court Judge Jeffrey M. Ramsdell ruled that prosecutors can seek the death penalty.

Anderson and McEnroe are accused of fatally shooting Anderson's parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, during a holiday gathering at their home. When her brother Scott Anderson and his wife, Erica, and their children, ages 5 and 3, arrived later that evening, they, too, were shot, prosecutors said.

In June 2008, Anderson told The Seattle Times during a jailhouse interview that she and McEnroe, her former boyfriend, killed her family in a fit of rage, claiming she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse.

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Prosecutors can seek the death penalty against Michele Anderson, the woman accused of killing six members of her family on Christmas Eve 2007.

The death penalty allowance came down as a Superior Court judge's decision Friday. The Christmas Eve carnage was in Carnation, about 12 miles east of Redmond, Wash.

Anderson and her former boyfriend, Joe McEnroe, are both charged in the killing of Anderson's parents, her brother, her brother's wife and her nephew and niece.

The two defendants' attorneys argued the prosecutor over-stepped the law by seeking the death penalty in their cases. They had hoped the judge would find the state's death penalty laws too broad, making the two defendants ineligible for the punishment.

However, in a lengthy decision that took Superior Court Judge Jeffery Ramsdell 40 minutes to read, he disagreed with their arguments.

"Given the magnitude of these alleged crimes – the slaying of three generations of a family and particularly the slaying of two young children – I find that there are not sufficient reasons to keep the death penalty from being considered by the juries that will ultimately hear these matters," said the judge.

The judge's ruling validates a decision made by King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg to seek the death penalty against both defendants.

"I think the judge affirmed what Mr. Satterberg has been saying all along," said Deputy Prosecutor James Konat, "and this doesn't change the nature of the case for the last two and half years."

Throughout the hearing, McEnroe rarely took his eyes off the judge. Anderson, on the other hand, stared away and rarely looked up.

Anderson has said her anger and "problem" fueled the killings.

"I have a problem with my anger. I get worked up and I can't stop myself," she said. "I knew what I was doing was wrong, but I didn't stop myself. I just got so angry."

Anderson refused to say what her family had done specifically to make her so angry.

"I've been through a lot my whole life, and my heart had hardened," she said. "And when you get so full of hatred, it makes you capable of committing" this type of crime.

When asked why she had killed the children, Anderson said "I didn't want them to live with memories. I know it sounds horrible, but they were mercy killings. It's horrible. It's the worst thing I've ever done."

Since her arrest, Anderson has been pushing for the death penalty, claiming she doesn't believe she should live. Anderson has contacted KATU sister station KOMO, in Seattle, several times from inside the jail. During those tearful phone conversations, she confessed to the murders on several occasions.

When asked if she was taking what some would consider the easy way out by choosing the death penalty, she said her critics simply do not understand: "I didn't understand the value of life until I took it from other people," she said tearfully. "Even when you're in a horrible environment like jail or prison, life is still the greatest gift ever. It's the most important thing, the most valuable thing in the world."

Anderson has insisted she's mentally competent. However, her attorneys have not supported her in seeking the death penalty, prompting her to request new attorneys several times.

Prosecutors have laid out the evening of the killings for the court. (Warning: The recount is gruesome.) They contend Anderson's mother, 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.

They believe Judy ran into the room and saw her daughter's boyfriend shoot Judy's husband of 38 years, Wayne Anderson. Judy started screaming, and the boyfriend turned the gun on her. Judy fell to the floor, not yet dead. Her daughter's boyfriend, McEnroe, apologized and shot the mother again – this time in the head, according to a police affidavit.

After killing her parents, Michele Anderson and her boyfriend burned some of the evidence in a backyard fire pit, reloaded their weapons and waited for Anderson'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 Anderson then allegedly shot her sister-in-law, Erica Anderson, 32, who still managed to climb over a couch and call 9-1-1.

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

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The King County Prosecutor's Office says an Oct. 10, 2011, trial day has been set for Joseph McEnroe and Michele Anderson, who face aggravated murder charges in the deaths of six people on Christmas Eve 2007 in Carnation.

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If she wants the DP, give it to her. I don't get all the hoopla. How many people in jail accused of cold blooded murder request the DP?

What these two did is beyond despicable. They both deserve the DP. IMO, this should be an easy case to prove.

Kudo's and RIP to Erica Anderson who - even when she was shot - managed to call 911 and then died. And the poor children. Just horrific!! RIP to the entire family!!!

May 9, 2013

The Washington Supreme Court has heard oral arguments in the case of the Christmas Eve murders of six people in Carnation in 2007. (This case has been going on almost 6 years)

The central issue in this case is when prosecutors should consider the strength of the evidence against defendants in a capital murder case. The parties differed on whether evidence should be a consideration in deciding to seek the death penalty.

Last January, a King County judge told prosecutors they could no longer seek the death penalty in the trial of Joseph McEnroe and Michele Anderson. The judge, Jeffrey Ramsdell, said prosecutors were wrong to evaluate the strength of the evidence against the two defendants in seeking the death penalty. Ramsdell said evidence is something wealthier counties can produce more of and that could skew who gets put to death.

During oral arguments, Washington Supreme Court Justice Charles Wiggins pursued Ramsdell’s idea that wealthier counties can hypothetically gather more evidence than poor counties. “The defendant is just unfortunate to be in a better-funded county that develops better evidence against him,” he said.

King County prosecutor James Whisman said every case is different, and funding for prosecutors is just one element of that. “That’s just a degree of uncertainty that’s going to always exist in the law,” he said. Whisman said prosecutors, not Judge Ramsdell, have the discretion to determine the charges against McEnroe and Anderson, and whether to seek the death penalty.

But Kathryn Lund Ross, who represented McEnroe and Anderson, said when seeking the death penalty, prosecutors were only supposed to consider whether the defendants deserved leniency for any reason.

Ross said they must think about "whether a person is redeemable," and "whether they have circumstances in their lives that makes them less morally culpable." Factors can include whether the defendant was abused, was a drug addict, has a low I.Q., or anything that renders them less “morally culpable.”

Ross said prosecutors declined to evaluate this type of evidence for McEnroe and Anderson as they’re required to do under state law.

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Get the show on the road already! The lives taken deserve to have Justice starting with these 2.

Olivia and Nathan Anderson

     

Terrible! The victims were given no time to live!

  A 2011 trial date set but nothing? So, when do they actually have a fricking trial for this massacre???? The 'justice' system is NO Justice! Very, VERY tough case to read. Horrible!!

3/25/15

A Seattle jury convicted a 36-year-old man for killing six members of his ex-girlfriend's family in Carnation on Christmas Eve 2007.

Jurors deliberated for less than two days before finding Joseph McEnroe guilty of first-degree murder with aggravating circumstances in King County Superior Court Wednesday afternoon.

McEnroe showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

He faces either life in prison without parole or execution, which jurors will decide in a second phase of the trial, expected to begin next week.

Prosecutors say McEnroe and his former girlfriend, Michele Anderson, shot her parents Wayne and Judy Anderson; brother Scott; sister-in-law Erica; 5-year-old niece Olivia and 3-year-old nephew Nathan.

Prosecutors say the murders were clearly premeditated and that McEnroe believed Anderson had been slighted by her family. McEnroe's defense lawyers argued that he was coerced by his former girlfriend and had argued for convictions of second-degree murder.

Prosecutor Scott O'Toole said the jury had to endure details of a grisly murder scene and horrific crimes.

"There was a lot of information, 220 exhibits and 7 years for them to review so we were very hopeful when the call came in this morning," he said.

Pam Mantle, who lost her daughter and two grandchildren in the massacre, still doesn't know what to think.

"I don't know, it's been such a long road I'm kind of numb right now," she said.

"It never changes. It hasn't changed in 7 years. Every morning I wake up and wonder if it was a dream, and it wasn't. So, you get up, wander the house, get a drink and think about it. Then the ball starts rolling all over again."

The Mantles say the defense's notion that Joseph McEnroe was somehow under the influence of his then-girlfriend Michele Anderson, that he was delusional and unable to think for himself is absurd. They say he was "fully functional" when he opened fire that Christmas Eve.

As for whether the McEnroe should be executed for his crimes, Tony Mantle is ambivalent.

"I don't really care. The rest of his life is going to be miserable, and that's good enough," he said.

This conviction is only the first trial. The same jury will now hear testimony before handing down a sentence. And McEnroe's accomplice stands trial later this year.

The Mantles know their fight is still far from over.

"It's kind of like re-climbing K2. It's a tough battle," said Pam Mantle. "It's tough to get up in the morning and come down here every day."

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