How a Jailbreak Led to Martha Carelli’s Capture

On April 18, 1978, Martha Carelli’s day began like any other. She saw her husband and children off to work and school, ran errands and returned home in the late afternoon. By evening, she and her family would be bound at gunpoint in their own house—victims of an escaped convict who had already spent more than a day hiding inside without their knowledge.

The case, later documented by author Ann Rule (who changed the names of victims and some of those involved in the case to protect their privacy) inspired Lifetime’s Kidnapped in Her Own Home: The Martha Carelli Story.

Two days earlier, four inmates escaped from the Franklin County Jail in Pasco, Wash. The breakout dominated local news, with authorities warning residents across the Tri-Cities—Kennewick, Pasco and Richland—to stay alert.

Among the escapees was 24-year-old Michael Anderson, who had been jailed on charges including armed robbery and attempted murder. His record and the circumstances of the escape raised immediate concerns. Police launched a coordinated search, circulating mug shots and tracking possible leads, but as hours passed without sightings, some residents began to believe the men had fled the area.

At least one of them hadn’t gone far. After briefly staying with an acquaintance, who gave him a gun, Anderson left when police activity intensified. He found another place to hide: the Carelli home. He first concealed himself in the garage, then slipped inside through an unlocked back door. From there, he moved into the basement. He remained undetected for 36 hours.

During that time, he quietly moved through the house when it was empty or the family was asleep, eating food, drinking liquor and even using the phone. The Carellis noticed nothing unusual. That changed when Carelli went downstairs to do laundry and encountered him.

Carelli screamed, prompting Anderson to tell her, “Shut up! You know I just got out of jail,” according to Rule’s story.  When Carelli tried to flee, he struck her repeatedly, beating her into submission and leaving her with serious head injuries. He forced her to the floor and quickly took control. 

As her children and a neighbor came into the house, Anderson also captured them at gunpoint. Anderson tied them up and forced them to lie still. When her husband, John Carelli, arrived home, Anderson overpowered and restrained him. Within minutes, the entire family was being held captive.

Anderson lied and claimed one of his fellow escapees was also in the home, someone who would "take care of” the family if Carelli didn’t follow instructions. He kept the gun visible, showed that it was fully loaded and made clear that he was willing to use it. He forced Carelli to cook dinner for him and his “accomplice,” all the while threatening her as her husband and children remained bound in separate areas of the home. 

Then he decided to leave—with Carelli. Anderson forced Carelli to go with him, warning again that her family’s safety depended on her cooperation. Believing the threat was real, she complied. Anderson forced Carelli, reeling from the effects of the beating Anderson had given her, to drive for hours through the Tri-Cities area, changing locations repeatedly. At one point, he forced her into the trunk of the car while he attempted to steal another vehicle to avoid detection.

Back at the house, John Carelli managed to free himself and get to a neighbor, who called the police. Officers quickly responded, surrounding the home and preparing for a possible armed standoff. Given Anderson’s claim that another man was inside, police approached cautiously. Instead, they found the children bound in the basement but unharmed. A search of the house and garage confirmed there was no accomplice.

While Carelli remained in captivity, Anderson entered a Giant T department store in Kennewick shortly before closing time. There, he encountered several employees, including store manager Edward “Doug” Parry. Parry, a 28-year-old former EMT accustomed to high-pressure situations, recognized Anderson’s volatility and made a calculated decision to cooperate, hoping that staying calm would protect his employees and prevent the situation from escalating.

Once the store closed, Anderson ordered Parry to open the safe. When the initial amount of cash wasn’t enough, he forced Parry to retrieve a key to an inner safe located in another department. In total, Anderson took several thousand dollars in cash.

He then locked some employees in a room and forced Parry to leave with him as a hostage. Outside, Anderson revealed Carelli, who had been locked in the trunk of the Carelli car. Parry immediately saw that she was badly injured. Anderson transferred both hostages into Parry’s station wagon. With Parry driving and Anderson in the back seat holding a gun, the three set out toward western Washington.

By this point, local police had discovered the abandoned Carelli vehicle at the store and connected the robbery to the ongoing manhunt. When employees were found locked inside, authorities realized the situation had escalated into a multi-victim kidnapping. An all-points bulletin was issued, expanding the search across multiple jurisdictions.

Parry drove as instructed, heading toward Seattle. Along the way, Anderson issued conflicting orders—at times telling him to drive faster, at others warning him not to attract attention. At one point, a state trooper briefly drove alongside them, but without a clear signal of distress from Parry’s car, continued on. 

As they crossed the Cascade Mountains and approached the Seattle area, Anderson had money, a vehicle and two hostages—and no clear plan beyond staying ahead of police. Bizarrely, he asked Parry for an impromptu tour of the city, which led to the trip spending several more hours driving around Seattle, with Parry showing Anderson Lake Washington, the Seattle Arboretum and spots at the University of Washington campus, including Husky Stadium.   

After their drive through Seattle, Parry responded to Anderson’s request to drive to a “dark place” like a parking lot by pulling into a motel, framing it as a way for Anderson to rest and avoid drawing attention. Anderson agreed. At the front desk, Parry quietly told the clerk that he and the injured woman with him were being held hostage and asked the clerk to “keep smiling” as she handed him a room key. He delivered the message without alerting Anderson, who was watching closely.

The clerk contacted the police immediately. Officers moved quickly, surrounding the motel and evacuating nearby rooms. Inside, Anderson bound both Parry and Carelli, preparing to continue his escape. But when he stepped outside the room, he was met by armed officers and taken into custody without a shootout. 

Inside, police found both hostages tied up but alive. They later learned that Anderson had bought a plane ticket to California, leaving them to believe he’d planned to kill Carelli and Parry before leaving the state.

Carelli was taken to the hospital with a concussion, a broken nose and severe facial injuries. She survived, but the physical and emotional effects of the ordeal were significant, causing waves of flashbacks due to post-traumatic stress disorder. Parry was credited with helping bring the situation to a safe end through his actions at the motel.

Anderson later pleaded guilty to multiple charges, including robbery, assault, escape and kidnapping. While awaiting trial, he attempted two more jail escapes. He received consecutive life sentences, along with additional prison terms related to earlier crimes.

Nearly 30 years after Carelli’s traumatic abduction, New York Times bestselling true crime author Rule depicted her ordeal in her book, Smoke, Mirrors, and Murder: And Other True Cases.