Michele Anderson convicted of killing 6 family members

A verdict has been reached in the Carnation murder trial of Michele Anderson.

Jurors found Anderson guilty of six counts of aggravated first degree murder.

Prosecutors say Anderson murdered her family on Christmas Eve 2007 in Carnation and the jury agreed.

The only possible sentence for aggravated first degree murder is a life sentence.

"Michele Anderson will never ever leave prison. She'll never walk the streets again. She will live with what she did for the rest of her life, times six, " said Scott O'Toole, Sr King County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney.

Anderson showed no reaction when the verdicts were read. She looked down at the table in front of her.

"I thought she didn't pay a lick of attention," said Pam Mantle, whose daughter and grandchildren were murdered by Anderson, "I thought she was very uninterested. I guess if it was my life and what I was going to be doing for the next 50 years I'd be a lot more interested."

Mantle waited more than 8 years to get justice. "It's a relief. I'm pleased that they decided on a guilty verdict and all 6 counts, so that's pretty amazing," said Mantle,  " I think that maybe we'll be able to put this a little behind us now and enjoy some of the things that we've been missing out on the past 8 years."

Detectives say Anderson was motivated by greed. They say she was upset her parents asked her to start paying rent for the trailer she lived in on their Carnation property and she believed her brother owed her money.

The bodies were discovered by a friend of Judy Anderson two days after the killings when she failed to show up for work at the Carnation post office.

The bodies of Wayne and Judy Anderson, Michele Anderson's parents, were found outside the home.   The bodies of Anderson's brother, Scott Anderson, his wife Erica and their children Olivia, 5, and Nathan, 3, were found in the living room.

When Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, returned to the property two days after the murders, police were at the home. Both suspects were questioned separately by detectives, the conversations recorded. They both confessed.

Michele Anderson's defense team did not present a case, as Anderson refused to cooperate. She considered taking the stand in her own defense, argued with the judge and then changed her mind. She claimed her attorneys were ineffective and she wanted them charged for lying to her and to the court. She asked to get out of jail to go hire a private attorney. The judge denied her request. Anderson said she would only testify if she could have a new attorney.

In the end, she decided not to testify. The defense didn't call any witnesses and rested.

The first time the jury heard from the defense was during closing arguments. Defense Attorney Colleen O'Connor went through Anderson's confession and asked jurors to consider whether or not the murders were premeditated and to consider Anderson's mental state.  She also asked the jury to find Anderson not guilty, or only guilty of second-degree murder for the victims she did not actually shoot.

Joseph McEnroe was found guilty of all six counts of aggravated first degree murder last year and sentenced to life in prison.

Anderson's jury deliberated for an hour on Wednesday, all day Thursday and into Friday.

They returned a verdict Friday afternoon and found Anderson guilty of six counts of aggravated first degree murder.

Anderson will be sentenced to six life sentences. Her defense team said saving her from the death penalty was a victory. This started as a death penalty case. The prosecutor removed the death penalty when jurors spared Joseph McEnroe from the death penalty. He was sentenced him to life in prison. Prosecutors said Anderson and McEnroe were equally responsible for the killings.

The prosecutor removed the death penalty, leaving a life in prison as the only possible punishment for Anderson if convicted.

At date for Anderson's sentencing has not been set.

Cox Media Group