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ABINGDON -- One of the nurses who tried to save Derrick McFarland can't walk down the hallway of Montgomery Regional Hospital without picturing the pool of blood he left there.

Cpl. Eric Sutphin's mother can't imagine spending the rest of her life without her son, who was her counselor, her "doer-of-things" and her friend.

And since August 2006 -- when both men were shot to death by William Morva -- their children have been afraid they would lose their mothers, too.

Jurors heard an afternoon of emotional testimony as Morva's sentencing hearing got under way Tuesday afternoon in Washington County Circuit Court. Jurors deliberated about 3¹₂ hours Tuesday morning before finding the 26-year-old Blacksburg man guilty of three counts of capital murder and four other felony charges.

Standing with his hands in the pockets of his khaki pants, Morva showed no emotion as the verdicts were read.

Prosecutors, who are seeking the death penalty, then called 11 witnesses for the sentencing phase of the trial, most of whom testified in heart-wrenching detail that the deaths of McFarland and Sutphin have drastically affected their lives.

The defense today plans to call witnesses that include Morva's mother, his priest and at least one high school friend. Defense attorney Tom Blaylock told jurors Tuesday the testimony will show that life in prison, not death, is the appropriate punishment for Morva.

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

Family members of murder victims Derrick McFarland and Eric Sutphin react to the jury verdict of guilty.

Life in prison means just that, that Morva would be in prison "every second of every hour of every day of every week of every month of every year of every decade until the defendant dies," Blaylock said.

For Morva to be sentenced to death, the jury must find either that Morva is a future danger to society or that the killings he committed were vile, "horrible or inhuman in that it involved torture, depravity of mind or an aggravated battery to the victim," by legal definition.

Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch said he would show jurors both future dangerousness and depravity of mind. For the first time during the trial, which will enter into its seventh day today, jurors learned about Morva's past criminal convictions, which include attempted armed robbery and attempted burglary for which he is already serving a 38-year sentence.

Melissa Epperly is a Montgomery Regional nurse who was among those who tried to save McFarland after he was shot the morning of Aug. 20, 2006, as Morva escaped a deputy's custody. She testified that she feels guilty about McFarland's death because she had asked him to stand in the hallway where the shooting occurred to keep an eye on a patient.

And "every single time" she walks down that hallway, she sees the pool of blood he left there and remembers holding his hand and telling him she had tried to save him, she testified.

Cindy McFarland and Tamara Sutphin both called their husbands their best friends and described them as wonderful fathers. They told the jury how they learned the men had been killed and the effect their deaths have had on them and their children.

Kaneisha McFarland was only 3 when her father died.

Matt Gentry | The Roanoke Times

William Morva looks down as a jury verdict of guilty on three capital murder charges is read by Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs.

"She didn't understand why her daddy had to go away," Cindy McFarland told the jury. Even now, she said, "every time she sees a picture of him she gets excited, and I just have to tell her her daddy is always in her heart."

Cindy McFarland's 12-year-old son, Jonny Servellon, repeatedly asked if his stepfather's death was his fault.

"He felt like he had done something to cause this to happen," she testified.

Rachel and Emily Sutphin, the now-10-year-old twin daughters of Eric and Tamara Sutphin, won't talk about their father's death, Tamara Sutphin testified.

Their father used to sing taps to the girls every night before bed, she testified. It was hard on them, she said, to hear that song played at his funeral.

At the viewing, the girls asked her to put cards they had made for their father inside his jacket because they didn't want anyone else to read them. "They're not the same," she said.

Jeaneen Sutphin took a long look at Morva as she stepped up to the witness stand.

"My son didn't have to die," she told jurors. Morva could have shot Eric Sutphin in the leg, she said, to keep him from running after him.

"Eric was the joy of my life," she said. "It's very difficult to think I must walk the rest of my life without him."