Worcester man pleads guilty in savage stabbing death of tenant

A 27-year-old city man with what a prosecutor described as a long and documented history of mental health problems pleaded guilty today to second-degree murder in connection with a 2009 fatal machete attack on another man.

Daniel V. Harrigan, formerly of 23 Douglas St., had been charged with first-degree murder in the Jan. 31, 2009, slaying of 29-year-old Kodjo Abbey, but pleaded guilty this morning in Worcester Superior Court to a reduced charge of second-degree murder.

Judge James R. Lemire imposed the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment with a possibility of parole in 15 years. A conviction for first-degree murder carries a mandatory life term without parole.

Assistant District Attorney Christopher P. Hodgens said Mr. Abbey suffered fatal injuries during a fight outside 23 Douglas St., where both he and Mr. Harrigan lived.

Mr. Abbey lived in a second-floor apartment in the building, which was owned by Mr. Harrigan's mother, Cascilla A. Joseph. Mr. Harrigan lived with his mother on the first floor.

Mr. Hodgens said an eyewitness to the altercation later told police that Mr. Harrigan confronted Mr. Abbey as he was standing outside 23 Douglas St. and demanded money he believed he was owed for rent. Mr. Harrigan struck Mr. Abbey after the victim said he did not have any money, according to the witness.

The prosecutor said Mr. Abbey's stepdaughter, Shameka Brown, looked out the window and saw what appeared to be Mr. Harrigan holding Mr. Abbey up and stabbing him. Ms. Brown reported that she then saw Mr. Harrigan slam her stepfather to the ground and begin kicking him.

Ms. Brown called 911 and saw Mr. Harrigan walk away from Mr. Abbey's and return with what appeared to her to be a two-by-four, which he used to repeatedly strike Mr. Abbey in the head, according to Mr. Hodgens.

Police Officer David Reidy arrived and saw Mr. Harrigan repeatedly striking Mr. Abbey with what he initially believed was a baseball bat, the assistant district attorney said. The officer said Mr. Harrigan initially seemed unaware of his presence, but complied with his order to drop the weapon, which turned out to be a machete, according to Mr. Hodgens.

The prosecutor said Mr. Harrigan was yelling for the victim to die and saying he would have shot him if he had possessed a gun.

The machete and a folding knife were recovered by police, Mr. Hodgens said. Mr. Abbey was later pronounced dead at UMass Memorial Medical Center — University Campus.

While being videotaped in a holding cell at police headquarters, Mr. Harrigan spontaneously said, “I just lost it. Tell my mother I'm sorry. … I just kept stabbing him in the head. If I had a gun I would have shot him. He should have paid me my money,” according to Mr. Hodgens.

Mr. Harrigan also injured himself by throwing his body around the cell, the prosecutor said.

An autopsy showed that Mr. Abbey bled to death from multiple stab wounds and sharp force cutting and chopping injuries.

Mr. Hodgens said Mr. Harrigan, who had no criminal convictions as an adult, had a long history of mental health treatment and had been diagnosed in the past with a major depressive disorder with psychotic features.

If the case had gone to trial, he said, the defense would have offered the testimony of a mental health expert that Mr. Harrigan lacked criminal responsibility for his actions at the time of the slaying and an expert witness for the prosecution would have testified that he was legally sane when he killed Mr. Abbey.

In an impact statement read in court, Ms. Brown described her late stepfather as “a good, hard-working citizen” with a friendly disposition.

“He would meet a person and call him a friend as soon as they met,” she said.

Mr. Harrigan's lawyer, Edward P. Ryan Jr., said his client was remorseful and wanted to convey his deepest apologies to the victim's family.

“This is a tragedy of immense proportions for everybody involved,” Mr. Ryan said.