The Anderson family murders, a brutal mass murder case in the small, rural town of Carnation, Washington on Christmas Eve 2007, will forever be etched in the minds of the locality's residents. The killings took place at the home of Wayne Scott Anderson and Judy Anderson, where six members from three generations of their family were gunned down during a gathering.
The perpetrators included a member of the same family, Michele Anderson, and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, who did not hesitate once before massacring the family, including Michele's five-year-old niece and three-year-old nephew right after shooting their parents. Their bodies were discovered two days later by one of Judy Anderson's friends.
The Anderson family case first aired on Oxygen's Homicide for the Holidays in 2016 and is scheduled to re-air the episode titled Christmas Carnage in Carnation on the platform as the holiday season approaches on Friday, December 2, 2022, at 9:00 pm ET.
This article will further dive deeper into the 2007 killings.
Carnation-based Anderson family was gunned down in a brutal Christmas Eve massacre
Wayne and Judy Anderson, who were seemingly having a family gathering at their house, had no clue that on December 24, 2007, their house would become the location of one of the deadliest massacres the small town of Carnation has ever seen. Their daughter Michele Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, reportedly arrived at the house fully armed in the afternoon in their pickup truck.
As Michele prepared to shoot her 60-year-old father after entering the house, McEnroe diverted Judy Anderson's attention as she wrapped Christmas presents. However, Michele's rifle faltered and her boyfriend had to shoot them down.
After meticulously cleaning the house and dragging the parents' bodies outside, the two waited for Michele's older brother Scott, his 32-year-old wife Erica, and their two young children to arrive. When the family of four arrived at the house, Michele fatally shot her brother multiple times, killing him then and there, and then shooting Erica.
Despite being hurt, Erica proceeded to use a cordless phone in the house to call 911. Dispatchers only heard a brief portion of the call, which sounded like guests squabbling at a party. McEnroe then proceeded to snatch the phone from her before breaking it into pieces and delivering a fatal shot.
After gunning down their parents in front of them, Joseph McEnroe apologized to his girlfriend's five-year-old niece and an even younger nephew before shooting both of them in the head to end the Christmas Eve carnage. Anderson allegedly asked him to shoot the children, stressing that they did not want witnesses and that the kids would be seriously affected from seeing their parents' deaths.
Authorities were notified about the Anderson family murdered two days after Christmas Eve
Two days later, Judy's friend and co-worker went to the Anderson family house to find out why she wasn't at work, and that's when she noticed two dead bodies on the floor through the window. She called 911 following which detectives went to the crime scene and quickly took in McEnroe and Michele Anderson for interrogation. Eventually, they both confessed to the killings and were arrested.
It was alleged that money was the driving force behind the Anderson family killings. Michele Anderson reportedly claimed that her brother owed her money and that her parents and brother treated her unfairly. They were both found guilty of aggravated first-degree murder on all six counts and received individual life sentences.
The 2007 Christmas Eve mass murder case of the Anderson family will be the subject of Homicide for the Holidays' upcoming episode, which airs on Friday, December 2.
