By Denise Lavoie, Associated Press, 04/12/02

Michael McDermott in court on Thursday, April 18. (AP Photo)  TODAY'S GLOBE McDermott gets 7 life terms Defendant 'sick,' not psychotic Remembering a gifted son Families describe pain Too many doubts on defense  REALVIDEO [ NECN.com | Get RealPlayer ] 04/24/02 (Guilty verdict) McDermott guilty verdict read Victim impact statements 04/22/02 Defense holds to insanity plea Prosecutors say he is lying 04/19/02 Is McDermott insane? 04/17/02 2d doctor: McDermott is ill 04/16/02 McDermott's mother testifies 04/11/02 McDermott: 'God sent me to kill Nazis' McDermott had books on faking illness McDermott: 'I died in 1940' McDermott: 'I was raped as child' McDermott describes suicide attempts McDermott: 'I had gone crazy' 04/05/02 First full day of testimony 04/04/02 Opening statements in trial Video clips require Windows 98 or higher for proper playback.  ARCHIVES Globe coverage of the Michael McDermott case  THE VICTIMS Jennifer Bragg Capobianco,    29, Brighton Janice Hagerty,    46, Stoneham Louis Javelle,    58, Nashua, N.H. Rose Manfredi,    48, Lexington Paul Marceau,    36, Melrose Cheryl Troy,    50, Beverly Craig Wood,    29, Haverhill  RESOURCES Scene of shooting Map of area

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A software engineer who claims he killed seven co-workers while on a divine mission to prevent the Holocaust testified Friday that he had done extensive research on how to fake mental illness.

Michael McDermott, 43, was insane on the day after Christmas in 2000 when he gunned down seven colleagues at Edgewater Technology Inc. in Wakefield, his defense lawyer says.

But a prosecutor on Friday accused McDermott of creating an intricate tale to convince jurors of his insanity.

"After many years of playing these games, after many years of lying to doctors, after doing research on how to fake mental illness ... you're very good at concocting elaborate fantasy tales, aren't you?" prosecutor Tom O'Reilly said. "This is just one big game for you, isn't it?"

"Of course not," McDermott replied.

Under cross-examination, McDermott acknowledged that he searched the Internet for articles on "how to fake mental illness," and said he purchased a book entitled, "Clinical Assessment of Malingering and Deception," a tutorial for psychiatrists to detect whether criminal defendants are lying.

He said he researched the subject because he wanted to make sure doctors prescribed him the antidepressants he preferred. Some drugs, he said, caused unwanted side effects such as impotence.

McDermott, who was often glib during his second day on the stand, repeated his story that the archangel St. Michael appeared to him 12 days before he shot his colleagues. He said St. Michael told him he could travel back in time and prevent millions of deaths if he killed Adolf Hitler and six Nazi generals.

McDermott said he had been transported to 1940 and was in Hitler's bunker, hearing Hitler's thoughts. He described how he walked through the office firing his AK-47 and shotgun, killing Hitler and his generals, not his co-workers.

Prosecutors say McDermott planned the slayings in retaliation for the company's plan to withhold some of his wages to pay $5,600 in back taxes he owed the IRS.

O'Reilly attempted Friday to show that McDermott had a pattern of behavior designed to get attention, including three suicide attempts in which he did not seriously hurt himself.

In one attempt, on New Year's Day 1990, O'Reilly said McDermott planned for three months and even left an eerie message on his answering machine the day before: "Hi. I'm Michael McDermott. I can't come to the phone right now because I'm dead. Please leave a message."

"Again, you were looking for attention, weren't you?" O'Reilly asked.

"Absolutely not," McDermott replied.

"I thought it would be funny."

The defense says McDermott is a deeply disturbed man. On Thursday, defense lawyer Kevin Reddington walked his client through his history of mental problems, including paranoia, schizophrenia and depression.

The defense claims McDermott shot people indiscriminately, while prosecutors claim he targeted people he considered complicit in the IRS order.

On Friday, the defense called an Edgewater employee who testified that one of the shooting victims, Janice Hagerty, had a cordial relationship with McDermott.

"Janice said that he's a great guy," said Barbara Warren-Sica, Edgewater's manager for corporate communications.

The defense also called a psychiatrist who treated McDermott from 1996 until a week before the shootings.

Dr. Alan Rothstein said he diagnosed McDermott with major depression and obsessive-compulsive disorder.

McDermott's lawyer grilled Rothstein about a session in March 2000, shortly after McDermott started working at Edgewater.

Rothstein said McDermott told him he was thrilled with his new job. "He said it was such a good deal that he could cry," Rothstein said. "He said it's a terrific place."

Reddington asked him why he didn't react strongly when McDermott -- who had told him about his suicide attempts -- told him during the same session that he had guns, including an AK-47.

"I told him he should not have guns," Rothstein said.

"He told me if anyone tells me I can't have guns, I will end contact with that person."

Ann Schwab, a psychologist who treated McDermott in Augusta, Maine, in 1987 and 1988 testified that McDermott once suddenly asked her, "Do you hear ringing?" He also told her he heard noises coming from the television when the volume was turned down.

But on cross-examination by Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley, Schwab said McDermott never told her he heard voices or had hallucinations.

McDermott claims he has heard voices in his head for the last 14 years. Prosecutors have tried to show that he did not report hearing voices until after he was arrested for the shootings.

Schwab said she did not consider McDermott psychotic then, but said hearing noises from the television is sometimes a red flag for psychiatrists.

Testimony was scheduled to resume Tuesday.