2 charged in Washington holiday killings (daughter and boyfriend)

Charlotte Observer ^ | 12/28/07 | DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP

[Libloather]

2 charged in Wash. holiday killings
By DONNA GORDON BLANKINSHIP
Associated Press Writer
Posted on Fri, Dec. 28, 2007

AP Photo - King County Sheriff Sue Rahr, left, and Prosecutor Dan Satterberg leave after addressing members of the media to explain charges being filed against a couple accused of killing members of the woman's family, Friday, Dec. 28, 2007, in Seattle. Michele K. Anderson and Joseph Thomas McEnroe, both 29, were charged Friday with aggravated first-degree murder in the methodical Christmas Eve shooting deaths of her parents, her brother, his wife and their two young children. The two were ordered held without bail after an initial court hearing Thursday. Satterberg said the motive for the slayings may never be known.

SEATTLE --After slaughtering their parents, Joseph McEnroe apologized to his girlfriend's young niece and nephew before shooting both in the head to end a Christmas Eve massacre, prosecutors alleged Friday.

But even as they filed aggravated first-degree murder charges against McEnroe and Michele Anderson, prosecutors could not say what might have driven the couple in the violent killing spree.

"In the end, what motive could you find that would make sense of the senseless slaying of the Anderson family?" King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg said in announcing the charges.

Anderson and McEnroe, both 29, were each charged with six counts of aggravated first-degree murder. Authorities say they have confessed. Conviction on aggravated first-degree murder in Washington is punishable only by death or life in prison without possibility of parole, and Satterberg said he would give "serious consideration" to the death penalty.

Telephone calls to public defender George Eppler, Anderson's attorney, and Devon Gibbs, McEnroe's lawyer, were not returned Friday.

According to court documents, Anderson said both of them shot her parents, brother and sister-in-law, while McEnroe killed the children. While long-standing bitterness and a perceived family debt might have been factors in the killings, the motive may never be known.

Court documents said McEnroe, a store clerk, and Anderson, who is unemployed, told detectives they armed themselves on Christmas Eve and went to her parents' home near Carnation, about 25 miles east of Seattle. There, they confronted Anderson's parents, Wayne Anderson, 60, and Judy Anderson, 61, in their living room.

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, documents say. She also said her parents were pressuring her to start paying rent for staying on their property, where she lived in a trailer with McEnroe.

"Michelle 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."

Satterberg said Michele Anderson fired once at her father's head but missed. McEnroe stepped in, leveled his gun and fatally shot Wayne Anderson in the head, documents said.

Judy Anderson heard the shots and ran from the back room where she had been wrapping gifts. She was shot by McEnroe, who apologized to her before shooting her again, this time in the head, the court documents said.

Satterberg said that the two dragged the bodies to a shed behind the house, used towels and carpets to sop up blood stains and awaited the arrival of Anderson's brother, Scott. He was due for a Christmas Eve visit with his wife, Erica, and children Olivia, 6, and Nathan, 3.

Her brother and sister-in-law put up a brave struggle, according to the documents. Scott Anderson charged her when she pulled out the gun, and was shot up to four times, records say.

Michele then shot Erica Anderson twice, but she was able to crawl over the back of a couch to call 911, authorities said. McEnroe told detectives he tore the phone from Erica's hands and destroyed it.

Huddling with her children, Erica Anderson pleaded with McEnroe not to shoot her, saying: "You don't have to do this."

"Yes, we do," McEnroe was quoted as replying in the affidavit. He fired at her head, authorities said.

Satterberg said that McEnroe apologized to both of the children before he shot 6-year-old Olivia. He then turned to 3-year-old Nathan, who had picked up the batteries from the cordless phone his mother had used in her futile attempt to call for help, court documents said.

McEnroe than fired one last bullet through Nathan's head, according to the affidavit. When asked why he shot Erica, Olivia and Nathan, McEnroe told detectives three times: "I didn't want them to turn us in."

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, Satterberg said.

When they arrived Wednesday, 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.

[beaversmom]

Olivia and Nathan Anderson

[Theresawithanh]

Yes, Washington does still have the death penalty. The last article I read on this said that the death penalty was definitely being considered for these two subhumans.

[Tolkien]

Death by Blow Torch. Now that's a deterrent!!

[LucyJo]

According to court documents, Anderson said both of them shot her parents, brother and sister-in-law, while McEnroe killed the children.

Nope...none of them - including the children - would have been killed, if not for her.

[rockabyebaby]

Go easy on her Rock—she just lost her parents and all.

Are ya kiddin'???? She's the one who murdered them.

[beaversmom]

A family tragedy: Six dead, two arrested

From the Demon's nephew:

The violence, Ben Anderson said, stemmed from a dispute over money, and a long-standing fight between Michele Anderson and her parents. He said his aunt had been fighting with her parents since she was 13 and was angry because she didn't think her parents showed her enough love.

"She had a different way of thinking," Ben Anderson said, speaking from his car after dropping a memorial wreath off at his grandparents' home Wednesday night. "My grandparents had a lot of money. She had lived on the property rent-free her whole life, and they were just trying to help her out."

[beaversmom]

Rock, you’re too smart to need a sarcasm tag :)

[rockabyebaby]

LOL, just screwin’ with ya! I knew you were being sarcastic, SAVAGE NATION is too smart not to be outraged at this!

[csvset]

I have to wonder if her and her POS " boyfriend" are tweekers, ( Meth freaks ).

That was my first thought when I read about this.

[Nachoman]

After slaughtering their parents, Joseph McEnroe apologized to his girlfriend's young niece and nephew before shooting both in the head...

Well, since he apologized, I guess it's alright.

[beaversmom]

I got that from some story about a beast that had killed her grandparents. I think the counselor or lawyer for the girl used that line—”Well she just lost her grandparents afterall”

[bill1952]

The last article I read on this said that the death penalty was definitely being considered for these two subhumans.

It always is, during the time needed to bury the fresh kills.

But after time, in 10 or 20 years, as the appeals process winds its weary way towards conclusion, the dead will be but distant memories in the minds of a few souls, while the denizens of the liberal trash bins crawl out and scream at the barbarity of the death penalty.

Thank you for the info. - Bill

[beaversmom]

I’m sure the Demon will be a victim in the end.

[Deo volente]

These two monsters deserve an immediate hanging. Instead, they'll get publicly funded lawyers, endless appeals, and years battling the system at taxpayer expense.


Not to mention three meals a day, free medical and dental care, access to the law library, television interviews, and probably a book deal.

A simple hanging would be too nice for these two.