The re-trial
more newspaper stories
William Charles Morva’s two-week capital murder trial was held in Washington County Circuit Court in Abingdon in early September 2008.
The outcome
Morva was found guilty on all 7 charges. A jury recommended the death penalty for each of the 3 capital murder charges. Morva was formally sentenced June 23, 2008 by Circuit Court Judge Ray Grubbs.
The 7 chargesCapital murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony: In the fatal shooting of Montgomery Regional Hospital security guard Derrick McFarland early the morning of Aug. 20, 2006
Capital murder and use of a firearm in commission of a felony: In the fatal shooting of Montgomery County Sheriff’s Cpl. Eric Sutphin on the Huckleberry Trail the morning of Aug. 21, 2006
Capital murder: Accused of killing two people in less than three years
Escape with force: Escaped from custody at the hospital
Assault and battery of a law enforcement officer: Accused of knocking out Montgomery County sheriff’s deputy Russell Quesenberry during his escape
Grant Jedlinsky | The Roanoke Times
Interactive path
See how William Morva came to be accused of killing a hospital security guard and sheriff's corporal during his escape from police custody on the Huckleberry Trail in August 2006.
2008 photo galleries: Scenes from opening day in his trial in Washington County. | Scenes from second day in court. | Scenes from the third day in court. | Scenes from the fourth day in court. | 2007 Scenes from court in Montgomery County.
More Morva reading
more
- Morva gets death in capital murder case
- Jurors' debate of Morva's fate will start today
- Morva found guilty: Will he get a death sentence?
- Morva's case in jury's hands
- A trial that's the talk of the town
- Witnesses take stand in Morva trial
- Deputies credited with saving life of choking man
- Morva attorneys to explain his desperate past
- Abingdon and Christiansburg: Worlds apart
Background
In August 2006, Morva was being held in the Montgomery County Jail while awaiting trial for his role in botched attempts to rob one Blacksburg business and break into two others in 2005.
He is accused of killing Derrick McFarland, a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital, and Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office, after he reportedly escaped custody Aug. 20, 2006, at the hospital, where he was being treated for injuries.
Virginia Tech canceled classes on the first day of school that year because of the manhunt, which lasted about 37 hours. Blacksburg police captured Morva the afternoon of Aug. 21, 2006, in a brushy area just off the Huckleberry Trail.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs attempted to seat a jury for Morva’s capital murder trial in September but later ruled that the trial in the highly publicized case would be moved out of the county. He made the decision after presiding over three days of jury selection and choosing a required pool of potential jurors. Grubbs said it was apparent to him that too many in the jury pool had ties to people involved with the case. -->
