On the day after Christmas in 2000, a horrific act of violence shattered the holiday peace in Wakefield, Massachusetts, ending the life of 46-year-old Janice Hagerty, a female office manager at Edgewater Technology. The tragic events unfolded at her workplace, an internet consulting firm, where she and six of her colleagues were fatally shot in a meticulously planned attack.
The perpetrator was identified as Michael McDermott, a 42-year-old software engineer and a co-worker of the
victims. On that Tuesday morning, December 26, McDermott entered the Edgewater Technology offices heavily armed with an AK-47 variant, a 12-gauge shotgun, and a. 32 caliber pistol. He proceeded to open fire, targeting his co-workers in a deadly rampage. Janice Hagerty was shot twice with the AK-47, sustaining wounds to her head and torso. The attack was swift and brutal, leaving a scene of devastation and claiming the lives of seven individuals in total.
Following the shooting, McDermott was found by police sitting calmly at the scene. He was arrested and subsequently charged with seven counts of murder. The motive for the massacre was determined to be his anger over the company's compliance with an IRS order to garnish his wages to pay back taxes. Evidence presented during his trial revealed that McDermott had planned the attack, even stashing weapons at the office on Christmas Day.
McDermott's defense team argued that he was not guilty by reason of insanity, claiming a history of mental illness. However, the prosecution maintained that the killings were a deliberate and vengeful act. Ultimately, a jury found Michael McDermott guilty of seven counts of first-degree murder. He was sentenced to seven consecutive life sentences without the possibility of parole, ensuring he would spend the remainder of his life in prison for the senseless act of violence that took the life of Janice Hagerty and her six colleagues.
