Carnation is a (very) small city in King County, home to less than 2,000 people. It’s charming and peaceful, rarely drawing attention from the rest of the state. But in 2007, it was the sight of one of the most brutal family murders in our state’s history.

Carnation is less than an hour away from Seattle, but it's the opposite of Washington's biggest city — quiet, laid back, and a place where everybody knows everyone else's name.
Jasperdo / Flickr
Perhaps that was why the Anderson family chose to live there.
Wayne Scott Anderson was a Boeing engineer, residing in Carnation with his wife, Judy, their grown children, Michele and Scott, and their grandchildren.
John Westrock / Flickr
By all accounts, they were a happy family.

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On Christmas Eve in 2007, Wayne and Judy's daughter, Michele, and her then-boyfriend, Joseph Thomas McEnroe, armed themselves and drove their pickup to Michele's parents' home.
Mark Pouley / Flickr
The two brutally murdered both Wayne and Judy as well as Michele's brother, Scott, Scott's wife, Erica and Scott and Erica's two young children. The only family member to be spared was Michele's sister, Mary Victoria Anderson, who wasn't there at the time — she'd skipped the Christmas Eve gathering because she was feeling under the weather.
The bodies were discovered two days later when a co-worker of Judy Anderson’s went to the home to see why she hadn't gone to work. While King County detectives were investigating the property, Joseph and Michele Anderson drove up and were questioned and arrested.
John Westrock / Flickr
They were each charged with six counts of first-degree murder. The motive was thought to be a dispute over money and Michele believing that she had been mistreated by her family.
After a lengthy trial (and confessions by both parties to avoid the death penalty), Michele and Joseph were each sentenced to six life terms in prison.
Gene Bisbee / Flickr
Carnation has returned to the peaceful community it always was, but the Anderson family will never be forgotten. How anyone could do something so horrible to their own family, we may never know.

Michele Anderson committed an unthinkable act of evil when she decided to murder her family. Unfortunately, she’s not the only evil Washingtonian from the past.

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