Michael John Anderson is an American, formerly a resident of Savage, Minnesota, who in 2009 was convicted of having murdered Katherine Ann Olson in October 2007. Because Anderson met Olson through Craigslist, a popular classified advertising website, the media dubbed him a Craigslist Killer, a generic term for murderers who find victims by placing or responding to ads in Craigslist. Anderson was the first killer given this title in news accounts.
The crime
Michael John Anderson, age 19, murdered Katherine Anne Olson, a 24-year-old theater and Hispanic studies graduate of St. Olaf College and temporary nanny, on October 25, 2007, in a Minneapolis, Minnesota suburb after seeing an ad for her services as a nanny on Craigslist.
The prosecution charged that Anderson created and posted a fake advertisement on Craigslist "in order to lure a woman to his home so he might experience what it felt like to kill."
Posing as a married woman named "Amy" who was looking for nanny services, Anderson exchanged emails with Olson. When she arrived at his parents' house for an interview, he shot her in the back with a .357 Magnum and put her body into the trunk of her car. He then drove to a Burnsville Nature Preserve, where he abandoned it.
The car with Olson's body in it was discovered on October 26, 2007.
Conviction
Anderson, who was the first murderer referred to by the media as a "Craigslist Killer", was found guilty of first degree murder and received a life sentence without parole on April 1, 2009.
Alan Margoles, the lead attorney arguing in Anderson's defense, stated that the killing of Olson was "accidental" and that he plans an appeal because during the trial he had not been allowed to present evidence that Anderson has Asperger syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder. Prosecutors have an equal number of psychologists who reject the conclusion of Asperger syndrome.
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