I.B.E.W. Local 104 News

In Fight of Their Lives, 104/NECA Family Prove to be Heroes

It was in the early hours of July 30 last year when Kevin McDonough had to show just what a union outside lineman is made of – and when his own family had to show just what a union outside lineman’s family is made of, too.

They only recently began speaking publicly about the life-altering events of that night to local and national media and even in the March 3 edition of People magazine.

For Kevin, a Local 104 member who now owns and operates signatory NECA-member McDonough Line Construction, his wife, Jeanie, and their then-15-year-old daughter, Shea, the evening before was like most any other at their home in Chelmsford. That dramatically changed when, in the dead of the night that followed as the family slept, a knife-wielding murderer entered their home apparently intent on killing again.

Although they may not have known it then, the McDonoughs were ready for Adam Leroy Lane, a trucker from North Carolina who has since confessed to the earlier murder of 38-year-old Monica Massaro in Bloomsbury, N.J.

In the life-or-death battle that would follow the intrusion, the McDonoughs’ collective resilience prevailed.

When Kevin and Jeanie entered the room in which Shea was sleeping to find a masked Lane standing over her with a knife, they wrestled with him while Shea contacted police.

“I knew 100 percent that I had him,” Kevin told People magazine. “I said to myself, ‘If he makes a move, I've got more in reserve.’”

It all started when, according to local media reports, on July 30 after midnight of the 29th, Lane parked his truck at a rest area on Interstate 495 North, pulled on a black mask and a tool belt containing knives and a choke wire, and began hiking through the woods. He eventually entered the McDonoughs’ home through an unlocked door.

Soon after, Kevin and Jeanie were awoken when they heard their daughter struggling from the guest bedroom, where Shea had gone to bed to take advantage of the room’s air conditioner.

As they entered the room to discover Lane standing over Shea with his hand over her mouth, the killer turned and cut Shea’s shoulder with his knife. The 5-foot 9-inch, 155- pound Kevin grabbed him by both wrists – “more out of being scared than anything else,” he has said – and wrestled the much larger Lane away from Shea.

Jeanie then took hold of the 15-inch knife blade with her bare hands, slicing both palms as the men wrestled to the ground, Lane eventually giving in to the family’s resolve.

Police would arrive after four minutes and arrested Lane.

“I feel (Shea’s) the real hero here,” Kevin has said to the media. “She had the will to fight, making noise and kicking.”

“Shea reacted and we followed,” Jeanie has told the local newspaper. “It was a real team effort in that room.”

Their incredible story has been well-documented in the press, but all accounts highlight how the McDonoughs have downplayed their bravery and fortitude.

Chelmsford Police Chief Jim Murphy, however, later told local media, “By their heroic and valiant efforts, our Chelmsford family not only saved themselves from harm’s way, but they also brought some closure and comfort to a family suffering in New Jersey.”

The McDonoughs have also been honored by the Chelmsford Police Department and town officials for helping to catch Lane. Word is, even Oprah is interested in telling their story to the world

Lineman Again Cares for his Little Sister –
This Time Around with One of his Kidneys

“It’s my sister. It’s my family.”

Local 104 lineman James Gomez never thought twice about surrendering one of his own kidneys so that his sister might not only live a better life – but that she may just live, period.

Speaking less than a week after the March 4 surgery, during which doctors at University of Massachusetts Medical Center in Worcester implanted one of James’ healthy kidneys alongside the two failing kidneys of his sister, Sandra Jamison, James was almost matter-of-fact about his own role in the ordeal. But the staples still in his stomach, and the fact that he had to forego pain medication because he is allergic to them, serve as reminders of his heroism.

“I just wanted to help her,” he says.

But Sandra, who has suffered from Lupus since she was a child and was on kidney dialysis as her organs failed, knows her big brother’s donation goes far beyond that.

“I was very happy and grateful when he told me he would be able to give me a kidney,” she says. “I think what he’s done is very heroic and very brave of him.”

James’ unselfish act was nothing out of the ordinary, either, according to his sister.

“He always took care of me. He’s my big brother, and I guess that’s what big brothers do,” Sandra says.

As with family, Local 104 pitched in to assist James, just as he assisted his sister. Both the local and the signatory contractor for which James works, Northeast Line Construction of Abington, Mass., have assisted James with several financial obligations while he prepared for the surgery and mended.

James says he is particularly grateful to Northeast Line’s Ron Mortimer, Brad Hall and Mike McDonough for their assistance.

And just a week after the surgery, James, who went through local 104’s apprenticeship program and graduated in 2004, was ready to get back to work.

Sandra, who lives in Worcester, was equally eager to get back to her job as a waitress and was looking to do so just 2 weeks following the transplant, reporting that she “felt good” and that the surgery “went very well.”

Thanks in large part to I.B.E.W. Local 104 journeyman lineman James Gomez, her big brother.