A 39-year-old Massachusetts man is accused of shooting and killing his ex-girlfriend and seriously injuring her two daughters at the home that the four of them shared in Norton. Robert McDermott’s body was found on Monday at the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority railroad tracks in Walpole where he shot and killed himself.
Police and prosecutors say that Norton and his former girlfriend kept breaking up and getting back together again and that their relationship was very volatile. The relationship took a fatally violent turn when Norton shot his 44-year-old ex-girlfriend and her two teenage girls.
The girls’ father found his daughters alive in the hallway. They had been shot in the head. He discovered his ex-wife’s body in her bed.
McDermott reportedly did not have a license to carry and use a gun. The two girls, ages 15 and 12, are being treated at Children’s Hospital in Providence.
Endabuse.org offers a number of statistics on domestic homicides:
• In 2000, 1,247 women were killed by their intimate partners. 440 men were killed by their intimate partners.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention:
• In the U.S., approximately 1.5 million women and over 800,000 men were assaulted by an intimate partner every year (Tjaden and Thoennes 2000a).
• 1,300 people die and close to 2 million people are injured because of IPV (Intimate Partner Violence) every year (CDC 2003).
• 11% of all murder victims from 1976-2000 were murdered by their intimate partners.
• 24% of the murder victims in 2002 were men killed by an intimate partner. The remaining 76% IPV homicide victims were women.
• The number one weapon used in IPV the gun.
In Massachusetts, the penalties for murder and crimes related to domestic violence, including assault, battery, sexual assault, harassment, stalking, and restraining order violations, can be very severe. This is why it is so important that you hire an experienced criminal defense attorney that knows how properly and successfully defend you against violent crime charges and convictions
Man shoots ex-girlfriend, 2 daughters before killing self, Boston.com, August 27, 2007
Intimate Partner Violence: Overview, CDC.gov
Domestic Violence is a Serious, Widespread Social Problem in America: The Facts, Endabuse.org
Related Web Site:
Domestic Violence, National Center for Victims of Crime
Altman & Altman LLP has successfully represented clients throughout Massachusetts that have been charged with homicide, sexual assault, stalking, assault and battery, and any other violent crime.
To speak with one of our criminal defense attorneys, contact Altman & Altman LLP today for your free consultation. We want to help you get your life back.