SEATTLE — A woman and her boyfriend admitted to methodically gunning down her parents and four other family members in rural Washington on Christmas Eve, according to police affidavits filed in court Thursday.
Michele Andersen and Joe McEnroe, both 29, were ordered held without bail after a court appearance Thursday. Formal charges have not yet been filed, but both were arrested Wednesday for investigation of six counts of homicide.
McEnroe and Anderson shot her parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, using large-caliber pistols and dragged the bodies to a shed, authorities wrote in the affidavits, which were based on statements they gave to authorities.
A short time later, the Andersons’ son, Scott, his wife Erika, and 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,” sheriff’s Detective John Pavlovich wrote.
The couple, 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.
Anderson told authorities both of them shot her parents, brother and sister-in-law, but McEnroe killed the children, according to the affidavit.
McEnroe appeared briefly in the courtroom, but then left with his attorney, who came back and said he waived his right to appear.
Michele 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 on a rural property that includes a house and a mobile home at the end of a long dirt road. The property is near the rural town of Carnation, about 25 miles east of Seattle.
Authorities said the bodies were found by a co-worker of one of the victims who had come to the house because Judy Anderson, who worked for the U.S. Postal Service, did not report to work.
Ben Anderson, who said he was the grandson of Wayne and Judy Anderson, 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.
