Western State evaluators find woman accused of killing 6 relatives competent

By Jennifer Sullivan - SeattleTimes.com

September 21, 2011

A woman accused of killing six members of her family on Christmas Eve 2007 has been deemed mentally competent to stand trial by evaluators at Western State Hospital.

Michele Anderson was examined earlier this summer by mental health experts. It was the second time since her arrest that she had been evaluated and deemed competent.

Her lawyer, Colleen O'Connor, told Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell during a July hearing that Anderson is highly emotional and unable to assist in her defense for her upcoming trial on six counts of aggravated murder.

One of Anderson's lawyers told Ramsdell on Wednesday that they need time to review the Western State Hospital report and would like to discuss it during her next court hearing on Oct. 20.

UPDATE:

While Anderson was found competent by Western State Hospital, Ramsdell has not declared her competent to stand trial.

Anderson and her former boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, were arrested shortly after six members of Anderson's family were found slain in her parents' Carnation home. Killed were her parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson; her brother and his wife, Scott and Erica Anderson; and that couple's children, 5-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan.

Anderson told The Seattle Times during a June 2008 jailhouse interview that she is guilty of the slayings and deserves to be executed.

The two could face the death penalty if convicted. They will be tried separately. A trial date has not been set since several issues in the case are on appeal.

Mary Victoria Anderson, whose parents and brother were killed, attended Wednesday's hearing and said afterward that she's tired of the delays and wants the cases to go to trial. Pam Mantle, Erica Anderson's mother, also attended the hearing. Mantle has also voiced frustration that Anderson and McEnroe have not yet been tried.

2 will face death penalty in Carnation killings

Michele Anderson has said she hopes to be executed for the slaughter of six of her family members, including two young children, on Christmas Eve last year.

By Gene Johnson - AP Legal Affairs Writer

October 16, 2008

Michele Anderson has said she hopes to be executed for the slaughter of six of her family members, including two young children, on Christmas Eve last year.

Now that she might get that chance, her lawyer says she no longer wants it.

King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg announced Thursday he will seek the death penalty against Anderson, 30, and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, 29, in the shootings of Anderson's parents, her brother and his wife, and their two young children at the parents' home in Carnation last Dec. 24.

"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," Satterberg said in a written statement.

Prosecutors say Anderson and McEnroe gave detailed confessions when questioned by detectives, telling them that when they arrived at the home for a Christmas Eve celebration, McEnroe shot her father, Wayne, 60, in the head. Her mother, Judy, 61, rushed out from where she had been wrapping presents, and McEnroe killed her, too.

Prosecutors allege the pair hid the bodies, and when Anderson's brother Scott arrived with his wife, Erica, both 32, and their two children, 6-year-old Olivia and 3-year-old Nathan, Michele and McEnroe executed them, with McEnroe apologizing as he shot the children in the head.

Prosecutors have said Anderson told detectives her brother owed her money and that she was upset because her parents did not take her side. She also said her parents were pressuring her to start paying rent for staying in a mobile home on their property, they allege.

The defendants have pleaded not guilty, as is routine in potential capital cases, but Anderson told The Seattle Times and a Seattle television station she was guilty and wanted the death penalty.

"I need to be executed for everything that I've done," she told KOMO-TV. "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."

One of her lawyers, Stephan Illa, acknowledged those comments, but said Thursday that Anderson no longer wants the death penalty. He noted that she prevented her previous lawyers from presenting evidence to Satterberg on her behalf, but changed her mind after her new legal team was appointed in August.

"Now that the prosecutor has decided to seek the death penalty, Ms. Anderson and her defense team will fight to save her life," Illa said.

He said Satterberg's decision will prove to be "a very costly mistake," likely involving two separate capital trials, at least half a dozen defense lawyers and associated legal expenses.

"The background and mental health history of this defendant make her an inappropriate candidate for a death sentence," Illa said. "I am confident that a jury will agree."

One of McEnroe's lawyers, Kathryn Ross, said she was disappointed.

"We think there is sufficient mitigating evidence to merit not seek the death penalty," she said. "But Dan Satterberg has never met Mr. McEnroe, and any future jury will learn more about him than Mr. Satterberg has in making his decision."

She declined to discuss what factors might have weighed against the death penalty for her client.

Satterberg said he weighed the death-penalty decision for 10 months, and made it with input from surviving family members, law enforcement and defense attorneys.

No trial date has been set. At a hearing Thursday afternoon in King County Superior Court, prosecutors officially served notice of their intent to seek the death penalty.

Michele Anderson and McEnroe did not attend the hearing on the advice of their attorneys.

Suspect in Carnation slayings says she is guilty

By Natalie Singer - Seattle Times staff reporter

June 27, 2008

The woman charged with killing six members of her family on Christmas Eve says she is sorry for her crime and wants to be punished in the most severe way possible — with a death sentence.

Michele Anderson, 29, has been trying to plead guilty to aggravated first-degree murder for months. However, a requirement in state law makes it impossible for her to do so because the King County prosecuting attorney is still deciding whether to seek the death penalty against her.

Anderson, however, claims that her public defenders have silenced her.

In a telephone interview from the King County Jail this morning, Anderson admitted to fatally shooting six members of her family, including two young children, during a holiday celebration at her parents' Carnation home. Anderson said she has desperately been trying to circumvent the special-sentencing process set out by state law — a process aimed at deciding whether she'll face the death penalty — and admit in court to the slayings.

"I'm a different kind of person," Anderson said this morning. "Life in prison is not enough punishment for me. I want the most severe punishment, which would be the death penalty. I want to waive my trial."

Anderson says she's been telling her attorneys for months that she wants to plead guilty to the slayings, but that they have told her she cannot.

The attorneys, Cindy Arends and Kevin Dolan, could not speak on the record, citing attorney-client confidentiality.

In May, a King County judge ordered Anderson to undergo a competency evaluation to determine whether she is capable of assisting in her defense at trial. Her attorneys had asked for the evaluation in a sealed motion, and had sought to close the courtroom so they could argue their case. However, Superior Court Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell said he would not close the courtroom.

The defense must submit a mitigation packet — a compilation of mental-health history and other evidence persuading King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg not to seek the death penalty — by July 10. Satterberg then has until Aug. 4 to make a decision.

"My lawyers also said that a mitigation packet is a requirement, and that's also a lie," Anderson said. "There are no mitigating factors. I've been evaluated by three doctors and I've been found competent. My lawyers are trying to force me into a life sentence because they're opposed to that."

Anderson said she's been ordered not to contact the media and until recently had been prevented from making calls from the King County Jail, where she's been since her arrest. "They're trying to keep me from speaking out."

However, state law dictates that: "Except with the consent of the prosecuting attorney, during the period in which the prosecuting attorney may file the notice of special sentencing proceeding, the defendant may not tender a plea of guilty to the charge of aggravated first degree murder nor may the court accept a plea of guilty to the charge of aggravated first degree murder or any lesser included offense."

Anderson also sent a letter to The Times stating that she wanted help suing her lawyers.

Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, are each charged with six counts of aggravated murder in connection with the fatal shootings of Anderson's parents, Wayne, 60, and Judith Anderson, 61; her brother, Scott, and his wife, Erica, both 32; and the couple's two children, Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3.

Court papers tell of victims' terrifying last moments

By Natalie Singer - Seattle Times staff reporter

December 29, 2007

The last thing Erica Anderson did was try to protect her children.

The 32-year-old woman's husband was dead or dying, and she had been shot twice during a Christmas Eve ambush at her in-laws' rural Carnation home. Still, she managed to crawl over the back of a couch and dial 911 on a cordless phone.

But before she had a chance to speak, according to graphic court documents filed Friday, Joseph McEnroe — armed with a .357-caliber Magnum handgun — walked up and pulled the phone from her hand and popped out the batteries. McEnroe, according to the documents, "allowed [Erica] to huddle with her children before he shot [her] in the head."

"McEnroe made sure to mention that he apologized to [Erica] after she pleaded with him not to shoot her, saying '... You don't have to do this,' " according to the court papers. "McEnroe recalled how he looked at her and said, '... Yes, we do.' "

McEnroe shot 5-year-old Olivia Anderson in the head "at very close range," said Prosecuting Attorney Dan Satterberg. Then he turned to 3-year-old Nathan Anderson, the last survivor in the home.

The boy had picked up the batteries McEnroe had torn from the phone and held them up in one hand. McEnroe told detectives the child gave him "... the look of complete comprehension ... as if he understood." McEnroe then shot him in the head as well, according to the documents.

"I didn't want them to turn us in," McEnroe explained, the documents say.

McEnroe and Michele Kristen Anderson, both 29, were charged Friday with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder in the slaughter at Michele Anderson's parents' home. Satterberg said his office will take a hard look at whether it will seek the death penalty, given the horrific details that have emerged from the investigation.

The pair are being held without bail and will be arraigned at 8:30 a.m. Jan. 9.

Satterberg will have 30 days from the arraignment to decide whether to seek the death penalty. The only other sentence allowed for an aggravated-murder conviction is life in prison without parole.

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

Also dead are Wayne Anderson, 60, and his wife, Judith, 61, who were killed before Scott and Erica Anderson arrived with their children for a Christmas Eve celebration.

The charges detail what police say was a planned ambush and execution of the Anderson family.

According to those 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, she would kill them all.

According to the 16-page charges, Anderson told police that she had lent her brother, Scott Anderson, money and hadn't been repaid. The relationship between the once-close siblings had soured after Scott Anderson married Erica. And Michele Anderson was angry that her parents, Judy and Wayne Anderson, were pressuring her to pay rent for the trailer she shared with McEnroe on their wooded Carnation property, she told police.

As it grew dark on Dec. 24, the couple armed themselves with the handguns they had purchased from a pawnshop over the summer and drove 200 yards from their trailer to Wayne and Judy Anderson's small white house, according to the reports.

McEnroe joined Judy Anderson in a back room, where she was wrapping Christmas gifts for her grandchildren. Michele Anderson encountered Wayne Anderson first, police said, and fired her 9 mm handgun at her father but apparently missed him. Hearing the shot, Judy Anderson and McEnroe ran into the room, where McEnroe shot Wayne Anderson in the head, they told police. As Judy Anderson began to scream, McEnroe shot her and she fell to the floor, police said. She continued to scream, "so he apologized to her and then shot her again, this time in the head," according to the documents.

Michele Anderson's parents dead, the couple allegedly then prepared for the arrival of Scott Anderson and his family, who were coming from their home in Black Diamond for a planned Christmas Eve dinner.

They dragged the bodies to an outdoor shed, used blankets and towels to clean up blood and burned evidence in a fire pit, according to documents and information from Satterberg.

Michele confronted her brother when he arrived, and he charged her when she pulled out the gun, she told detectives. She thought she shot him at least twice, and as many as four times, and told detectives she also shot Erica twice before the wounded woman scrambled over the couch and tried to call for help that never arrived.

The King County Sheriff's Office has launched an internal investigation to determine why two deputies who were dispatched to check on the call from the Anderson home turned away at a locked gate and never checked on the residence. The bodies weren't found until Dec. 26.

"We're looking into that right now," King County Sheriff Sue Rahr said. "I'm very concerned about that."

But police believe all the victims were dead by the time the deputies arrived at the property, she said.

Former neighbors, classmates and family members have painted a picture of the suspects as a paranoid couple who blacked out their windows and spoke of people out to get them.

Family friend Mark Bennett said Friday that Michele had been somewhat estranged from some of her family members, including a surviving sister, Mary, for the past several months.

"Mary had fears about her sister, not just that she thought she was crazy, but based on her anti-social behavior," Bennett said. "Michele wouldn't return phone calls. Looking back, it seems something had been in the air for some time."

He didn't think the family had felt they were ever in danger from Michele, however. "If they had, they would have had her arrested a long time ago," he said.

The bodies of the victims were discovered Wednesday by one of Judy Anderson's co-workers.

The King County Medical Examiner had not released results from the autopsies Friday.

Satterberg said Michele Anderson and McEnroe intended to escape to Canada when they returned to the crime scene, a wooded property about 3 miles from downtown Carnation, with a plan to pretend they discovered the bodies. After being interviewed separately by deputies, they were booked.

The slayings have shocked the small towns of Carnation, where Judy Anderson was a well-known mail carrier, and Black Diamond, where Scott and Erica Anderson and their children lived. Wayne Anderson was a Boeing employee.

Satterberg said he would consider the wishes of the victims' family when making a decision about the death penalty, as well as any mitigating factors that defense attorneys present, but ultimately would make the decision on his own.

Carnation slaying suspects: a history of arguments, paranoia

By Steve Miletich, Jennifer Sullivan, Sara Jean Green and Sonia Krishnan - Seattle Times staff reporters

December 28, 2007

The couple in Trailer 39 often fought so loudly that Ryan Westberg could hear them a few doors down at the Spring Glen Mobile Home Park in Fall City.

Once, Westberg said Thursday, he listened more intently, curious about what Michele Anderson and Joseph McEnroe were arguing about.

All he heard was Anderson yelling at McEnroe: "You have no job, you have no money, you have no life!"

Westberg's assessment of McEnroe: "total loser."

The couple moved to the property belonging to Michele Anderson's parents near Carnation about a year ago. On Christmas Eve, after years of reportedly feuding over money and other issues, Anderson and McEnroe methodically killed Anderson's father and mother, her brother and sister-in-law and their two young children, according to the King County Sheriff's Department.

As the couple were ordered jailed without bail Thursday, interviews with former neighbors, classmates and family members provided a portrait of a paranoid, unstable pair who acted odd and struggled financially but apparently planned a future together. They blacked out their windows and spoke of people out to get them, but also found jobs and came off as quiet and unassuming to their landlady.

"They said numerous times that they feared for their lives," said Corissa McGehe, another former neighbor. "They felt that they only had each other, that they could only trust each other. There was this paranoia about them."

They met online

McEnroe and Anderson, both 29, met five years ago on an online dating site, said McEnroe's mother, Sean Johnson, of Minneapolis. McEnroe was living in Glendale, Ariz., at the time, but soon moved to Washington, intent on marrying Anderson, Johnson said.

The couple lived in South King County, then moved to Fall City in 2004 and rented a mobile home there until late last year, said Spring Glen's owner, who asked not to be named.

They came up clean on criminal-background checks, the owner said. On their rental application, Anderson said she worked as a night security guard at Nintendo. McEnroe said he worked at a Target store.

Anderson and her brother, Scott Anderson, also apparently were trying to start an auto-painting company called Pure Evil Customs, founded in 2002, according to public business records.

Anderson also filled in as a postal carrier on her mother's Carnation route, the Postal Service said.

They paid their $390-a-month rent on time.

"He was so quiet," the trailer-park owner said. "They were so quiet."

Not always. In addition to arguments, McEnroe drew the attention of neighbor Westberg. "He would come and go all night long," Westberg said. "He'd leave ... and be back in 15 minutes."

Other neighbors described the couple as misfits.

They avoided eye contact, rarely emerged from their house and were indifferent to friendly overtures, said Stephanie Ammons, a 15-year resident of Spring Glen. And the smallest trespasses — a car parked in their spot, or a neighbor's cat or young kids in the yard — would enrage them.

"They were just so bizarre," Ammons said.

Next-door neighbor McGehe, 28, said Anderson would "yell and scream" but then calm down and apologize.

Ammons said Anderson often referred to herself as the "black sheep" of her family, but McGehe said Anderson's mother came about once a month bearing food and other items.

Anderson often said her parents "had quite a lot of money," McGehe said.

"Money was always brought up. It was always 'We're really struggling. We're really poor.' " As to their relationship, McGehe said, Anderson was in charge. "He [McEnroe] looked up to her, and she answered questions for him."

Artistic, sweet student

Anderson graduated from Duvall's Cedarcrest High School in 1997. The yearbook showed her on the cross-country team and in the art club.

She was an artistic, sweet girl who hung out with "unpopular kids," said Jennifer Chandler of Mukilteo, a former classmate.

Back then, she spoke of a volatile relationship with her parents — she claimed her father hit her and her mother was mean and didn't understand her, Chandler said. But Anderson spoke lovingly of her older brother, Scott, who is now among the slain, Chandler said.

"Scott was the only person she really trusted because they went through their abusive childhood together," Chandler said.

Chandler said she tracked down Anderson online about two years ago, and Chandler and her husband went to visit at the sparsely furnished Fall City mobile home. Chandler said the couple had black material over the windows, saying they were sure neighbors spied on them, had tried to break in and were "basically just out to get them."

McEnroe was "a little weird," Chandler said. He had a speech impediment.

"He was always talking about his spirit guide telling him how to live his life," Chandler said. He said he planned to marry Anderson and change his last name because of a disagreement with his family.

Chandler said she understood that Anderson had been diagnosed with severe anxiety and was supposed to take medication and see a counselor but couldn't afford it.

During that one-night reunion, Michele Anderson also said she didn't want to move back onto her parents' property.

Looking back, Chandler guessed that their troubled finances forced the move.

"I have no idea why she'd do that," Chandler said, "because she knew it was a volatile situation."

Broken family ties

In Minneapolis, McEnroe's mother said she and her two other children had been searching for her oldest son for nearly five years.

The last time McEnroe spoke to her, she said Thursday, he was angry that she had damaged his credit by being evicted from an apartment that he had helped her lease.

He also told her that Michele Anderson was angry, too: His bad credit was preventing them from renting a new apartment near Seattle.

He never called again.

But Johnson and her 18-year-old son, Ian Jones, said McEnroe never showed a violent side, though sometimes he had fights in school.

"Joe helped me out when other kids picked on me," Jones recalled. "I talked funny when I was little, and he defended me. He told kids to back off."

McEnroe was born in San Jose, Calif., and was diagnosed with a serious blood disorder, his mother said.

She said she was protective of her son because of his health problems, which included chronic nosebleeds.

Instead of sports, she said, McEnroe read a lot and played imaginative games. She said after his grades slipped in high school, he dropped out and worked at Burger King.

When he was 18, the family moved to Burien for a time, where he worked at Safeway. They then moved to Arizona.

In his early 20s, Johnson said, McEnroe spent a lot of time online and playing Dungeons & Dragons. For a time, she said, he went to South Carolina to visit a different young woman he met online.

He then met Anderson and moved to Washington.

"He said he was planning on settling down with Michele and having a baby within two years," his mother said.

Court papers detail slayings of six

By Natalie Singer, Sara Jean Green, Jennifer Sullivan and Steve Miletich - Seattle Times staff reporters

December 27, 2007

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.

Money may be motive in Christmas Eve killings

By Sara Jean Green, Jennifer Sullivan and Steve Miletich - Seattle Times staff reporters

December 27, 2007

A financial dispute might have led to the Christmas Eve slayings of six members of the same family, including two children, whose bodies were found Wednesday inside a rural home near Carnation.

The possible motive emerged late Wednesday after the arrest of 29-year-old Michele Kristen Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, in connection with the fatal shootings of Anderson's parents, her brother and his wife and the couple's two children, a 6-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy.

Investigators believe Anderson and McEnroe both shot the victims, said one law-enforcement source familiar with the investigation.

The source said there was a dispute within the family over money and that Anderson believed she was mistreated and taken advantage of by family members.

Late Wednesday, investigators also revealed that someone inside the home called 911 during the shootings, but the caller hung up without saying a word, said King County Sheriff's Sgt. John Urquhart.

Two King County sheriff's deputies went to check on the house, but they turned back without speaking to anyone at the home when they encountered a locked gate, Urquhart said.

"From everything I'm hearing, it wouldn't have made a difference," Urquhart said.

The call and the sheriff's response will be part of the investigation into the slayings. The bodies were discovered Wednesday morning by a co-worker of one victim.

Killed were Wayne Anderson, 60, and his wife, Judy Anderson, 61, who lived on the property, and their son, daughter-in-law and their two grandchildren, who were visiting from Black Diamond.

Michele Anderson and McEnroe, also 29, were arrested Wednesday afternoon on suspicion of homicide after they showed up at the crime scene, a wooded property on a rural road about three miles from downtown Carnation.

The couple were apparently living in a mobile home adjacent to Anderson's parents' house.

It was 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, 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.

Sheriff's officials said the 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"; however, 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.

Two deputies were sent out at 5:19 p.m. and arrived at 5:45 p.m., Urquhart said. They found a locked gate — which isn't in sight of the house — and 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. Urquhart said department policy requires deputies to determine who made the 911 call. He could not say why that wasn't done in this case.

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 an area Target store.

The King County Medical Examiner's Office has not released the victims' names or said how they died, but police said all were members of the same family. Family friends identified the two eldest victims as Wayne and Judy Anderson.

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."

His wife, Judy, was a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service in Carnation. She was known to many people along her route and well-liked, said several people who knew her.

Neighbors of the Andersons' son, Scott Anderson, said detectives had been to their Black Diamond neighborhood Wednesday to determine when Scott Anderson, 32, his wife, Erica, 32, and their two children, a 6-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, had last been seen.

Neighbor Mike Gould told a sheriff's deputy 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 Anderson 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."

Near the front door of their modest yellow home Wednesday was a little girl's blue and pink bicycle. Numerous toys could be seen in the backyard, which is surrounded by a chain-link fence.

About 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 work. 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, including the suspect Michele Anderson — who recently moved into the mobile home with McEnroe — and Scott Anderson. Another daughter, Mary, lives in North Bend.

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."

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 news people 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.

"In a small community like this, someone here is going to know them."