Michele Anderson, convicted of killing family members, gets 6 life sentences

The woman who ambushed and killed six of her family members was sentenced to six consecutive life sentences on Thursday morning.

Relatives of the victims had a chance to speak before Anderson was sentenced.

Prosecutors said Anderson and her boyfriend, Joseph McEnroe, were motivated by greed. Anderson believed her brother owed her money and claimed her parents were taking his side.

Pam Mantle's daughter and grandchildren were murdered. She said at the sentencing, "I don't think you're tough, Michele. I think you’re a bully and coward," said Mantle.

"Erica knew you would shoot the kids. She begged you not to and you did it anyway cause that's how you roll," she said.

Anderson started crying when her sister, Mary Victoria Anderson, turned and spoke right to her. "You destroyed me and look what you've done to your life. Do you care? What you've done to your family. Your brother loved you so much. You'll have a lot of time to think about it and I don't know -- it kills me. I loved you so much," said Mary Victoria Anderson. She was supposed to be at her parents' house the night of the murders but decided not to bring her family that Christmas Eve because she was sick. Mary Victoria Anderson believes she and her children would have also been killed.

Judge Jeffrey Ramsdell gave Michele Anderson a chance to speak before the sentence was handed down. "No thank you, Your Honor," said Michele Anderson.

Pam Mantle noticed that Anderson chose not to apologize. "She's not sorry, not sorry at all," said Mantle. She wants to make sure people remember the victims. "I guess that's what every mom thinks. Please don't forget them."

Anderson will be transported to the Washington Corrections Center for Women in Purdy in the next few weeks.

Anderson already filed an appeal, and she's representing herself. Joseph McEnroe also filed an appeal.

"I just hope they don't drag out with all these appeals for years and years and years. I hope they just put the devil to rest," said Mantle.

Alison Grande was in court for a report on KIRO 7 News at 5pm. Below are key moments in the sentencing hearing:

Michele Anderson was convicted in March. 

Anderson and her boyfriend - Joseph McEnroe (read about his case here) - killed 6 members of her family in Carnation on Christmas Eve in 2007.

Anderson faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of release.

Anderson showed no reaction when the verdicts were read in March. 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 eight years to get justice. "It's a relief. I'm pleased that they decided on a guilty verdict and all six 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 eight years."

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Jurors found Anderson guilty of six counts of aggravated first-degree murder in March, 2016. She was sentenced April 21.

Detectives said Anderson was motivated by greed. They said 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.

Cox Media Group