Suspects Admit to Slayings in Washington

[December 28, 2007]  SEATTLE (AP) -- Court documents detail six methodical killings that began on Christmas Eve when a woman and her boyfriend shot her parents at their rural home, dragged their bodies to a shed, then gunned down the woman's brother, his wife and their two young children.

What the documents don't say is why.

Michele K. Anderson and Joseph Thomas McEnroe, both 29, were ordered held without bail after a court hearing Thursday. Formal charges had not yet been filed, but prosecutors scheduled a news conference for Friday morning to discuss the case.

In police affidavits filed in court Thursday, sheriff's Detective John Pavlovich described the horrific killings he said McEnroe outlined to authorities, but the detective made no mention of motive.

First, Pavlovich wrote, McEnroe and Anderson shot her parents, Wayne Anderson, 60, and Judy Anderson, 61, using large-caliber pistols and dragged the bodies to a shed. A short time later, the Andersons' son, Scott, his wife, Erica -- both 32 -- and their children, Olivia, 6, and Nathan, 3, arrived for a Christmas Eve visit.

"Knowing that Scott and his family were potential witnesses, Joe and Michele shot them," Pavlovich wrote. His affidavit said McEnroe shot all four.

Both McEnroe and Anderson confessed to authorities, court documents said. Anderson said both of them shot her parents, brother and sister-in-law, and McEnroe killed the children, according to a separate affidavit. It also does not give a motive.

McEnroe and Anderson, who had been together for six years, lived in a trailer about 200 yards from her parents' house. After the killings, they tried to flee to Canada, court documents said, but they returned the following day and were detained.

Both defendants on Thursday waived their right to appear before a judge.

McEnroe appeared briefly in the courtroom, then left with his attorney. The attorney, Devon Gibbs, did not return a call for comment.

Anderson's attorney, public defender George Eppler, said he spoke with her briefly before the hearing. But when asked if she admitted guilt, Eppler said, "We limited our conversation solely to the issue of today's court appearance."

The bodies were found Wednesday morning on Wayne and Judy Anderson's property near Carnation, about 25 miles east of Seattle, by one of her co-workers, who was worried when Judy Anderson did not show up for work.

Ben Anderson, the elder couple's grandson, has said 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 Wednesday night, referring to Michele Anderson.

Ben Anderson showed up in the courtroom gallery moments before his aunt and her boyfriend were scheduled to appear. He fought back tears after McEnroe's lawyer told the judge her client was waiving his appearance. After the hearing, he left the courthouse without talking to reporters.

McEnroe's mother, Sean Johnson of Minneapolis, said she hasn't had much contact with McEnroe since he cut ties with his family after a dispute over money.

She said her son moved to the Puget Sound region shortly after he and Michele met in Glendale, Ariz., about five years ago on an online dating site. Johnson said her son planned to marry Anderson.

She told The Seattle Times that her eldest son was a "good Christian" and she was shocked he had been arrested in the slayings.

[Associated Press; By ELIZABETH M. GILLESPIE]

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