Financial Motive Suspected in Bloody Spree

ByABC News
December 27, 2000, 12:19 AM

Dec. 27 -- The deadly gunfire that shattered the holiday cheer and claimed seven lives at a Wakefield, Mass., Internet consulting company was carefully planned and executed by an employee angered over the possible garnishment of his wages, prosecutors said today.

Michael McDermott, a 42-year-old employee of Edgewater Technology, was arraigned today on seven counts of first-degree murder, a bloody spree that may have been prompted by a dispute over money.

This was a methodical undertaking with deliberate premeditation, Assistant District Attorney Tom OReilly said.

The huge, bearded man, clad in a bulletproof vest, was ushered into a Malden, Mass., courtroom by police and stood quietly through the 10-minute procedure, occasionally bending his head down to talk to his attorney. He pleaded not guilty and will be held without bail until lawyers meet again on Jan. 31.

McDermotts parents were seated in the courtroom as their son was arraigned. They did not speak to reporters, but McDermotts lawyer, Kevin Reddington, said they were devastated.

Methodical Killings

Police said McDermott, an ex-Navy submariner, walked into the companys headquarters late Tuesday morning armed with a shotgun, a semiautomatic assault rifle, and a semiautomatic pistol.

He shot a vice president of human resources as she was standing at the reception desk, OReilly said, and then killed the receptionist as she tried to escape.

Authorities said McDermott then headed to one office and killed three people: a woman who was found slumped over her computer, shot in the back; a woman found underneath her desk; and a man found slumped next to a copy machine, shot in the face and leg.

After several workers barricaded themselves in another office, OReilly said, McDermott shot the door handle off and killed two people. A witness, hiding under a desk, saw the carnage. All in all, 37 rounds were fired during the rampage, which lasted between five and eight minutes, the assistant district attorney said.