Innocent plea in office killings
MSNBC STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
WAKEFIELD, Mass., Dec 27 ù A software engineer
accused of targeting seven co-workers for methodical slaughter
was denied bail Wednesday after pleading innocent to seven
counts of murder. Michael McDermott, 42, stood impassively as
a prosecutor described how the shooter blasted through the
offices of Edgewater Technology with 37 rounds from a
semiautomatic rifle and several from a shotgun, striking
co-workers in their heads and backs as they tried to flee.
SOME OF the four women and three men killed worked
in the accounting department, which was recently served with
an order from the Internal Revenue Service to begin withholding
back taxes from McDermottÆs wages. Last week, he had an angry
outburst over the action, said one employee, who spoke on the
condition of anonymity.
McDermott stood silently during his brief court appearance.
He displayed no emotion as Tom OÆReilly, an assistant district
attorney, described in graphic detail the rampage at Edgewater
Technology.
ôThere was very little, if any, missed shots. Most of
the wounds went through and through the bodies,ö said OÆReilly.
ôOne of (the victims) was underneath his desk. He had
been shot numerous times. Another was a young lady slumped over
her keyboard of her computer. She had been shot in the back of
the head,ö OÆReilly said.
The victims were earlier identified as: Jennifer
Bragg-Capobianco; Janice Hagerty; Louis Javelle; Rose Manfredy;
Paul Marceau; Cheryl Troy; and Craig Wood.
All worked on the first floor of Edgewater TechnologyÆs
offices, located in a converted factory building. Two were
believed to be receptionists and the other five worked in the
companyÆs accounting department, authorities said.
BOMB TOOLS FOUND
OÆReilly added that officers who searched McDermottÆs
work area found ammunition in a cubby hole at his desk and
shotgun shells in the trash basket.
In McDermottÆs home, authorities discovered bomb-making
magazines; three gallons of nitric acid ù which can be used to
make nitroglycerine ù in boxes labeled ôDanger, do not moveö;
blasting caps and more ammunition, OÆReilly said.
Wearing an orange jail jumpsuit and a bulletproof vest,
the manacled McDermott looked around the courtroom frequently
as OÆReilly spoke.
Defense attorney Kevin Reddington made no argument for
bail. He said McDermott had been undergoing psychiatric
treatment and asked that McDermott be held where he would be
able to continue taking medication. Reddington did not
elaborate on his clientÆs condition.
After the hearing, McDermottÆs parents stood next to
Reddington but would not give their names.
ôThey are devastated,ö the attorney said. ôThey
expressed extreme regret and sympathy.ö
POSSIBLE MOTIVE
Prosecutors were investigating whether McDermott was
upset about the IRS action, Middlesex District Attorney Martha
Coakley said Tuesday.
She said Edgewater had agreed not to begin taking money
from McDermottÆs paycheck until after the holidays.
The amount owed was ôa couple thousandö dollars, said a
person familiar with the IRS order, who spoke on the condition
of anonymity.
Coakley said the shootings apparently were not random,
since the suspect bypassed several people during the rampage.
None of the victims was among McDermottÆs supervisors.
SUSPECT HEAVILY ARMED
McDermott had an AK-47 rifle, a shotgun and a
semi-automatic handgun when police burst into the building and
found him sitting silently in the reception area, a body nearby.
He made no attempt to shoot police and was described by
authorities as ôunresponsive.ö
ôThey made a split-second decision to hold their fire to
try to effect an arrest,ö said Stephen Doherty, the police chief
in this city 10 miles north of Boston.
Authorities said McDermott, an employee with Edgewater
Technology since March, came to work as usual Tuesday morning.
Around 11 a.m., however, he walked into the buildingÆs reception
area and opened fire on two co-workers. He then proceeded to
another wing of the building and shot five more employees at
their work stations, police said. Shell casings and bullets were
found all over the office.
ôThere was an enormous amount of firepower,ö said Coakley.
The rampage lasted five to 10 minutes, she said.
Coakley said McDermott did not have a permit for any of
the weapons he was carrying, but had no prior criminal record.
æA LITTLE STRANGEÆ
McDermott, reportedly divorced, lived alone in Haverill,
also a suburb of Boston.
Co-workers and neighbors described the former U.S. Navy
submarine electrician as quiet, surly and quirky.
Mike Stanley, an Edgewater Technology project leader,
described McDermott as friendly but ôa little strange.ö
McDermott recently had been coming in late and his
performance wasnÆt as good as it could have been, Stanley said.
Kevin Forzese, who lives upstairs from McDermott, said
the suspect had never mentioned money problems. He said McDermott
had mentioned that he collected antique guns, but he had never
seen any weapons in McDermottÆs apartment.
ôHe never talked about the company,ö Forzese said. ôI
talked to him about money and he said he was doing really well.ö
Jonathan Oldham, a 35-year-old carpenter, said McDermott
moved out of a six-unit apartment complex in Weymouth, south of
Boston, at the end of October. Oldham was surprised to learn
the man he said was quiet and kept to himself was accused of
the rampage.
ôI freaked,ö he said. ôYou never know if someone has
problems with their life. It could have happened here.ö
COMPANY æSHOCKEDÆ
Shirley Singleton, EdgewaterÆs chief executive, released
a statement of sympathy.
"Everyone at Edgewater Technology is shocked and devastated by
the loss of our friends,ö the statement said in part and added,
ôWe extend our deepest sympathies to the victimsÆ families at
this tragic time.ö
The company was scheduled to be closed through the end
of the week.
Survivors of the attack were in shock, said the Rev.
Tom Powers, who helped with grief counseling at St. JosephÆs
Church, where about 100 employees, family members and friends
gathered after the shooting. They left sporadically, their
faces stained by tears and holding each other for support.
ôThereÆs nothing you can do to take the grief away,ö
Powers said.
Nancy Pecjo, a software developer with the company who
is on maternity leave, was not at work at the time of the
shootings but went to the building after hearing the news.
She said 30 to 40 employees worked at the Wakefield
office. She did not know who had been shot.
ôItÆs a great company, a wonderful company,ö she said,
adding that she didnÆt know of anyone whoÆd been fired recently
or was disgruntled.
ôItÆs a small company, you get to know everybody there,ö
she said. ôWhen something like this happens itÆs very distressing.ö
Edgewater buyback plan may hint at motive
INTERNET EXCHANGES
McDermott went by the nickname ôMuckoö ù something his
nieces and nephews came up with when they couldnÆt pronounce
Michael, according to a co-worker. He even had it on his carÆs
license plate.
A person who identified himself as Michael M. McDermott,
and who used the e-mail name ôMuckoö frequented Internet
bulletin boards and gave advice on explosives.
In one exchange, someone who said he was trying to help
protect Christians in Indonesia asked advice on where to buy
or build land mines.
McDermott responded: ôIt would seem that some æChristiansÆ
have forgotten the Sixth Commandment. It is hard to imagine
Jesus resorting to land mines.ö
The Sixth Commandment admonishes ôthou shall not kill.ö
The shooting was the latest in a string of shootings in
recent years in U.S. workplaces, schools and churches.
A shooting rampage in Honolulu in November 1999 also left
seven dead. Others include July 1999 shootings that left nine
dead at two Atlanta brokerages, and August 1999 shootings that
left three people dead at two office buildings in Pelham, Ala.
--
Note that he apparently had at least one firearm that is illegal
under State law, and didn't have the plethora of licenses
necessary to own guns in Massachusetts either.
Steve.
Cybershooters website: http://www.cybershooters.org
List admin: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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