Sydney River McDonald's murders

Derek Wood, 18, an employee of the restaurant along with two friends, Freeman Daniel MacNeil, 23, and Darren Muise, 18, broke into the restaurant after closing, planning to rob the establishment. They shot, stabbed, and beat three employees to death and left a fourth to die after shooting her in the neck.

The killers claimed they had not planned on using any violence in the break and enter; it was meant to be quick and easy money. The three inched their way into the restaurant via a basement door Wood had left ajar earlier in the evening with his knapsack which he left at the crime scene. Darren Muise wore a Halloween mask. They murdered their victims with a .22 calibre pistol, several knives, and a shovel handle. Expecting to find over $200,000 in the restaurant's safe, they made off with just $2,017.[1]

The murders put Sydney into the spotlight as this became a news story worldwide. The restaurant was in the shopping district of Sydney River on Kings Road. It reopened two weeks later, with restaurant sales reaching former levels within a year. The location was demolished in 2000 and moved down the road to a more accessible location.[3] The location of the former McDonald's is currently an empty lot.[4]

MacNeil was sentenced to 25 years before parole eligibility and is now in a maximum-security prison in Renous, New Brunswick. Muise received 20 years before parole eligibility. Wood was given two terms of life imprisonment for first degree murder and attempted murder, as well as two ten-year terms for unlawful confinement and the armed robbery. He will be eligible for parole after serving 25 years. In March 2007, it was reported that Muise was working outside his minimum-security prison facility in Laval, Quebec. A spokeswoman with Correctional Service of Canada was unable to comment on his case because of confidentiality limitations.

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