| Michael McDermott A.K.A.: "The Dot Com Killer" - "Mucko" |
| Classification: Mass murderer |
| Characteristics: Revenge - Claimed he had "Travelled back in time and killed Hitler and the last 6 Nazis" |
| Number of victims: 7 |
| Date of murders: December 26, 2000 |
| Date of arrest: Same day |
| Date of birth: September 4, 1958 |
| Victims profile: Janice Haggerty, 46 / Jennifer Bragg Capobianco, 29 / Cheryl Troy, 50 / Rose Manfredi, 48 / Louis Javelle, 58 / Paul Marceau, 36 / Craig Wood, 29 (co-workers) |
| Method of murder: Shooting (AK-47 variant, 12-gauge shotgun, and .32 caliber pistol) |
| Location: Wakefield, Massachusetts, USA |
| Status: Sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole in 2002 |
Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts |
| The Wakefield massacre occurred on Tuesday, December 26, 2000, at the Edgewater Technology in Wakefield, Massachusetts, United States, during which the gunman, Michael "Mucko" McDermott, an application support employee, shot and killed seven co-workers. He was found by police sitting calmly and stated that he didn't speak German. At trial, he stated that he was born without a soul and that God had allowed him to earn a soul by traveling back in time to kill Nazis. However, the prosecution asserted that the killings were motivated by his employer's garnishing of his wages to the IRS, to pay back taxes. The weapons he used were an AK-47 variant, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a .32 caliber pistol. He fired off a total of 37 rounds, shooting his victims in the back of the head repeatedly. He was found guilty of seven counts of first degree murder and sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole. In the court session following the crimes, McDermott claimed he had "Travelled back in time and killed Hitler and the last 6 Nazis." In 2008 this case was studied on the psychology programme Most Evil. Fatalities
Michael McDermott Chalk this one to the IRS. On December 26, 2000, a Massachussets software tester allegedly gunned down seven co-workers at their Internet consulting company because he may have been upset by a request by the IRS to garnisheed his wages to pay back taxes. Michael McDermott, 42, wielding a semiautomatic rifle, a shotgun and a pistol, made his way through the offices of Edgewater Technology, leaving in his wake a trail of spent shotgun shells, bullet casings, and the bodies of four women and three men with whom he worked. "Everything appears to be targeted at the individuals, rather than indiscriminate spraying of gunfire," said Middlesex County District Attorney Martha Coakley. "The victims were at their work stations... The whole thing took between five and 10 minutes." Two people were killed in the reception area, three others in the hallway, and the last two in the accounting office. To get to the last two victims McDermott blew open the door of the accounting office by shooting the lock out with a shotgun blast. Police found McDermott sitting silently in the reception area, with his weapons within reach and a tote bag filled with ammo. Police officers wrestled the 6-foot-2, 300-pound suspect to the ground and arrested him without gunfire. Co-workers and neighbors described the former U.S. Navy submarine electrician as quiet, surly, quirky and very private. In a statement, the company said McDermott's actions "apparently stem from occurrences in his personal life." Coakley said McDermott did not have a permit for any of the weapons he was carrying nor did he have a prior criminal record. The victims were identified as Jennifer Bragg-Capobianco; Janice Hagerty, a receptionist; Louis Javelle; Rose Manfredi, 49, an accountant; Paul Marceau; Cheryl Troy, who was the human resources director; and Craig Wood, 29, of Haverhill. The Internet consulting firm, Edgewater, employs approximately 240 people in Massachusetts, said John Cooley, director of investor relations. The company is in the process of moving its headquarters from Fayetteville, Arkansas, to Wakefield, about 10 miles north of downtown Boston. . The company also has offices in Alabama, Arkansas, Minnesota and New Hampshire. While searching his home police found computer equipment, a will, gun cases and ammunition, several "Dungeon and Dragons" books, a passport, blasting caps, bomb-making literature and three gallons of liquid nitric acid, a substance used in the manufacture nitroglycerin. In his work locker they found a semiautomatic rifle with a sniper scope, computer equipment, and more live ammunition. In his car they found an envelope containing a letter from the IRS with the levy information. Perhaps indicating his mental state leading to the rampage, McDermott quoted on his answering machine a chroniclly depressed android from the "Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy": "Here I am, brain the size of a planet, and what does it have me doing? Reduced to answering the phones. Phones. Oh, how I hate the phones. They're so depressing." During his arraignment Mcdermott pleaded not guilty to seven counts of murder. His lawyer also noted that he had been under psychiatric care and needed to take medication. His elderly parents attended the court hearing and commented through their lawyer that they were "devastated" by the massacre. According to prosecutors McDermott had been stockpiling weapons and ammunition before his workplace rampage and had practicing firing in the woods near his home. He allegedly brought the ammunition and weapons to his workplace on Christmas night, then returned the next morning and gunned down his co-workers, one of them after she greeted him with "Good morning." McDermott's defense attorney, Kevin Reddington, said, "I just think the indictments speak volumes," signaling that he may pursue an insanity defense. |
Bruce Joy, who served with McDermott on the Narwhal, said McDermott was a decent enough comrade, but that he "could lash out" sometimes if he felt insulted or slighted "in ways that might really shock you". "He once cut my leg with a knife," Joy said. "I don't think he meant to get so close and he was apologetic. It wasn't intentional but it's the kind of thing a person does without thinking. Just one of those screwy things that said something about his character."
The second of Richard and Rosemary Martinez's four children, McDermott exchanged his Hispanic surname for a slight variation on his middle one (McDermod) in 1980, four years after he joined the Navy. He served on the nuclear submarine U.S.S. Narwhal, an assignment that required rigorous psychological screening. However, says Bruce Joy, one of his crewmates, "when somebody violated his personal space and got too close to him he responded by sneezing directly in the guy's face."
