Bill to allow state workers to bring guns to workplace passes through committee

[MarkCharles]

45. man who shot to death seven co-workers at a software company

"April 25, 2002

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 24— A man who shot to death seven co-workers at a software company was convicted of murder today after failing to convince a jury that he was so delusional he thought he was killing Hitler and his henchmen to prevent the Holocaust.

The defendant, Michael McDermott, 43, stood impassively as he heard the verdict in a courtroom full of relatives of the victims. The convictions on seven counts of first-degree murder mean Mr. McDermott will be sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Massachusetts does not have a death penalty.

The jury deliberated for nearly 16 hours over three days.

Prosecutors said Mr. McDermott went on his rampage because he was angry about the company's plan to comply with an order by the Internal Revenue Service to withhold a large part of his salary to pay back taxes. They said he concocted the Holocaust story after studying how to fake mental illness.

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/25/us/man-convicted-of-killing-7-co-workers.html?ref=michaelmcdermott