He spoke of archangels, going back in time to shoot Nazis and believes he's dead, but a jury rejected those claims Wednesday when it found Michael "Mucko" McDermott guilty on all counts in the shooting deaths of his seven co-workers.

After almost 16 hours of deliberations over three days, McDermott was convicted of seven counts of first-degree murder for the Dec. 26, 2000, shooting at his former workplace, an Internet company in Wakefield, Mass.

Judge R. Malcolm Graham sentenced McDermott to seven consecutive life terms — one for each victim. As court officers led McDermott away in handcuffs following the sentencing, courtroom observers cheered and applauded.

The burly, bushy-haired defendant — who sat through much of the trial reading the Bible — showed no emotion as the verdict was read in a Cambridge courtroom. Victims' relatives who filled the courtroom broke down in tears or smiled after hearing the first guilty verdict read.

Calling McDermott a "weak, cowardly, pathetic loser," Dan Hagerty, husband of victim Janice Hagerty, spoke in court after the verdict was announced and talked about how his late wife was now buried in the cemetery where the couple taught their daughter to ride her bike.

"I feel such anger and sorrow when I think of the events that will be coming up for my daughter that Janice won't be there for," Hagerty said.

As several relatives of victims spoke, McDermott sat emotionless in his chair at the defense table, his face buried in a book. He never once looked at those who were speaking.

Some relatives said they were especially angered by McDermott's claims of insanity during the trial and asked the judge to give him the maximum penalty allowable under the law.

"Michael McDermott has victimized the family and friends of seven victims twice — first on Dec. 26, 2000, and now he has dragged us through this long trial," said David Marceau, brother of victim Paul Marceau. "He trivializes the death of seven precious people by fabricating this story to mask his guilt."

Kevin Reddington, McDermott's lawyer, requested concurrent terms for his client. Prosecutor Thomas O'Reilly, however, asked that each victim be remembered in their own way, and requested consecutive sentences.

"Michael McDermott is owed no mercy by the court, by the families, by anyone," O'Reilly said. He deserves the ultimate punishment which is not allowed in Massachusetts."

There is no death penalty in Massachusetts. Had the jury found him insane, McDermott would have been committed to a mental hospital for an indefinite period of time rather than being sent to prison.

During the trial, prosecutors contended that McDermott, a software tester, was angry because of $5,500 in back taxes he owed to the Internal Revenue Service that his employer was about to garnish from his wages.

McDermott took the stand to testify he was commissioned by St. Michael the Archangel to stop the Holocaust, an act that would allow him to earn a soul, he said. He also said that he believes that he was arrested by German police and that he died shortly after in a German police station.

McDermott said he is in purgatory, a place where Roman Catholics believe one goes temporarily when they are not yet worthy to go to heaven, and that he believed that his lawyer, Kevin Reddington, was his guardian angel.

But on the stand, McDermott was confronted with evidence seized from his own computer that he had researched "how to fake mental illness." Prosecutor Thomas O'Reilly argued that the evidence also showed that he purchased a book on how to malinger or feign illness.

McDermott admitted he did such research, but said he did so only to learn how to appear sane and stay out of a mental hospital.