2007 slaying of Carnation family haunts survivors

Like any proud grandparent, Pam Mantle shows off photos of the two grandchildren: an adorable girl sitting on her new bike, and a little blond boy looking bewildered by the attention cast on him during his second birthday party.

Inside Mantle's Snohomish home, framed photos of Olivia and Nathan sit next to the television and on the kitchen counter, inches from a stack of Christmas cards and rows of fresh-baked chocolate-chip cookies. The photos are among the few images Mantle has left of the children who were slain on Christmas Eve two years ago.

Olivia, 5, Nathan, 3, and their parents, Erica and Scott Anderson, were among six people shot to death at the Carnation-area home of Scott's parents, Wayne and Judy Anderson, who also were killed in one of the state's worst mass slayings. Erica was Mantle's daughter. Michele Anderson, 31, Scott's sister and the daughter of Wayne and Judy Anderson, and her former boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, 31, have been charged in the killings.

Mantle and her daughter, Sara Van Wyk, say they are flooded with memories of Erica, Scott and the children. But only recently have they been willing to sit down and talk about the deaths and their impact on their family.

"I wake up every day at 3 a.m. and I think of them. Usually I get myself so worked up thinking about what happened," Mantle said.

Mantle, 51, said that she can't stop thinking about Erica and Scott's last 15 minutes of life. In her final moments, according to court papers, Erica Anderson huddled with her children and pleaded for their lives. All three were shot.

Michele Anderson and McEnroe are each charged with six counts of aggravated murder and could face the death penalty for their alleged roles in what prosecutors believe were carefully planned slayings.

Both mother and daughter support the death penalty in the case, but they realize that even if a jury sends the two to death row it could be decades before their executions would be carried out. With two years gone by since the slayings and a trial yet to be scheduled, Mantle and Van Wyk said they are trying to remain patient.

"We're going to be old and gray by the time all of this is over," Mantle says.

According to court documents, Michele Anderson told police she was tired "of everybody stepping on her," and she had decided if her family did not start showing her respect by Dec. 24, 2007, she would kill them all. Michele Anderson and McEnroe lived in a trailer on Wayne and Judy Anderson's property.

Van Wyk, 31, said that the slayings have left her riddled with anxiety and terrified about leaving her sons, ages 13 months and 4 years, alone with anyone.

"I am never going to be the same person again," Van Wyk said, looking toward her 4-year-old son as he played with a toy helicopter.

Strained relationship

Mantle, who was just 17 when Erica was born, said the two "grew up together." Erica was never one to break the rules — she was always home by curfew, didn't buy a lottery ticket until she was 18 and didn't drink until she was 21, her sister said.

Van Wyk said that she always looked up to her big sister, who was 3 ½ years older. The two loved to drink pots of coffee and play cribbage — the card games would get so intense that nobody else would want to join in.

Scott and Erica started dating when they were seniors at Tolt High School, and were soon inseparable. They got married in Las Vegas when both were 24, Mantle said.

Mantle's husband, Tony, said he hired Scott to work on a construction crew the summer after he graduated from the University of Washington. Scott Anderson stayed with Albrecht Birkenbuel Inc. and was a crew superintendent by the time he was killed.

"He had the respect of everybody," Tony Mantle said. "He was a good listener, and everybody knew Scott wouldn't ask them to do anything he wouldn't do himself. He was a big, strong guy and a really caring guy."

Erica admired Wayne and Judy Anderson from the start, Mantle said. Judy Anderson was a well-liked postal carrier in Carnation, and her husband was a veteran Boeing engineer.

But, her family said, relations with Michele Anderson were always strained.

"Romeo and Juliet"

Michele Anderson and Van Wyk attended school together but were never friendly.

After her arrest, Anderson told police that she had lent her brother money and hadn't been repaid, according to charging documents. She was angry with her parents for telling her that she had to pay rent.

In June 2008, Anderson told The Seattle Times during a jailhouse interview that she and McEnroe killed her family in a fit of rage, claiming she had suffered years of physical and emotional abuse. But she — and McEnroe — have pleaded not guilty to the charges.

While Michele Anderson has said in court that she forced McEnroe into helping her out, Mantle and Van Wyk believe he helped her voluntarily.

Mantle calls Anderson's willingness to take the blame "a Romeo and Juliet" scenario.

"He was locked up in her delusion," Mantle said of McEnroe.

Mantle attends every court hearing for Michele Anderson and McEnroe. She says she plans to do the same when the two defendants are tried because she doesn't want Michele Anderson "to think she got away with anything."

"I'm never going to forgive her," Mantle said.

Jennifer Sullivan: 206-464-8294 or jensullivan@seattletimes.com