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Posted by: kwflatbed



Courtesy of WDBJ-TV

Corporal Eric Sutphin


Courtesy of WDBJ-TV

Escaped inmate William Charles Morva


Courtesy of WDBJ-TV

Deputies are on a manhunt for Morva, an escaped inmate who killed a deputy.


The Armed Escapee Remains At Large

Courtesy of WDBJ-TV


Watch the Video Blacksburg, Va.-- Montgomery County Sheriff's Department officials say Corporal Eric Sutphin was shot and killed this morning while he pursued the suspect in another police shooting.
Police are looking for William Charles Morva. Morva is the inmate who escaped yesterday after killing a hospital security guard and wounding a Montgomery County sheriff's deputy.
Virginia Tech officials are shutting down the Blacksburg campus while police search for a shooting suspect. Classes are cancelled. Authorities asked resident students to return to their dorms. Dorms are in lockdown status, which means only residents can enter. Virginia Tech is asking employees to stay in their offices and central personnel to remain on campus.
Blacksburg police earlier evacuated the Squires Student center as part of their pursuit of a suspect who shot a law enforcement officer this morning. Shortly before 11 a.m., police say they completed their search of the student center, and there was no trace of the suspect.
The sheriff's department says Corporal Sutphin was shot about a half-mile down the Huckleberry Trail, and police are out in force searching that area. The trail runs about six miles and connects Blacksburg and Christiansburg. Some people who live near the Huckleberry trail have reportedly been evacuated from their homes. Police are asking residents of the area to stay out of the way and keep their doors locked.
Morva is believed to be dressed in a tie-dyed shirt and khaki shorts. He may be covering himself with a towel or sheet. Morva is considered armed and dangerous. Police say if you see him, do not approach him--dial 9-1-1.
Police have been searching for Morva since he escaped yesterday morning from Montgomery Regional Hospital. He had been taken for treatment of a sprained wrist and leg. Police say he managed to gain control of a Montgomery County deputy's gun. Police say Morva shot and killed 33-year-old Derrick McFarland, a security officer at the hospital. He shot and wounded a deputy. That deputy, who has not been identified, is in stable condition.
Morva was in jail awaiting trial for attempted armed robbery. He was charged in connection with an attempted holdup at the Glade Road Deli Mart last August. His trial on attempted robbery, firearms and burglary charges was scheduled for later this week.
Corporal Sutphin was 40 years old, a 13-year veteran of law enforcement. He had been with the Montgomery County Sheriff's Department for the past three years. Sutphin was slightly wounded in 2003 in a confrontation with the man who shot and killed Christiansburg police officer Scott Hylton outside a convenience store. Deputy Sutphin returned fire and the suspect in that incident was killed.
Corporal Sutphin leaves behind a wife and twin daughters.
Republished with permission of WDBJ-TV


Related:

• Watch the Video

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Posted by: Irish_Cop_In_Va

Let's pray for the families of the Deputy and the Officer lost to that little twerp, and let us further pray that someone puts a round square between his eyes and wipes that disgusting cop killing smirk off of his face.
- All cops in VA are Hokie fans today -

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Suspected Killer Nabbed Near Va. Tech
Aug 21 7:38 PM US/Eastern





By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer

BLACKSBURG, Va.

A manhunt for an escaped convict suspected in the slayings of a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy shut down the Virginia Tech campus on the first day of classes Monday as sharpshooters were posted on university rooftops and students scrambled for safety.
Authorities later captured William Morva, 24, after he was found hiding in a briar patch along a trail off-campus, Blacksburg Police Chief Kim Crannis said. The spot was about 150 yards from where the sheriff's deputy was slain during the intense search Monday morning. A weapon also was recovered, but police would not elaborate.

Hundreds of police scoured the 2,600-acre campus as Virginia Tech Vice President Kurt Krause canceled classes for the school's 26,000 students and sent some 6,000 professors and other workers home.
Morva had escaped from a hospital _ about two miles from campus _ where he had been taken for treatment of a sprained wrist and ankle early Sunday.
According to police, Morva overpowered another Montgomery County sheriff's deputy at the hospital, took the deputy's gun and then shot an unarmed hospital security guard. The guard was identified as Derrick McFarland, 26. The deputy was in stable condition with a concussion and other severe head injuries he suffered in the attack.
Morva had been jailed while awaiting trial on charges of attempting to rob a store last year and apparently shed his orange prison jumpsuit after escaping.
He then is suspected of gunning down sheriff's Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin as the decorated police veteran got closer to the fugitive on the trail about 7 a.m. Monday.
Morva was wearing shorts with no shirt or shoes when he was captured around 3:30 p.m. Police earlier had said he was wearing a tie-dyed shirt and khakis and feared he would blend in with students on campus.
"It's very scary," said sophomore Kelly Engbersen of Williamsburg. "Every person you see you look hard (and wonder), 'Is that him?'"
As police sirens wailed to signal the arrest, shopkeepers in this college town celebrated the end of the tense search.
"Hallelujah. I'm ready for life to go back to normal," said Paula Bolte, who had put a sign in her grocery store to welcome students back to campus.
Morva was charged with capital murder, use of a firearm in a felony, escape and felony assault on a police officer. He had not been charged with Monday's shooting.
Crannis would not say whether Morva had contacted anyone or been spotted by citizens while he was on the lam.
Akio Robrecht, 27, of Blacksburg, said Morva was a couple years behind him in school. Morva "seemed like a nice, quiet kid," he said. "It's kind of hard to believe."
___ Associated Press Writers Michael Felberbaum in Richmond and Dionne Walker in Blacksburg contributed to this report.



Copyright 2006 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed

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Posted by: Andy0921

My heart goes out to the family of the Corporal. Dont even get me started on the fuck face who took his life.

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Posted by: kwflatbed

By Rex Bowman
Richmond Times-Dispatch

ROANOKE, Va. — The capital-murder trial of former Chesterfield County resident William Morva, charged with killing two men during a jail escape, is set to begin Tuesday. Defense attorneys think this time they'll be able to seat a jury.
The previous attempt to try Morva, 26, ended in September when a Montgomery County judge ruled that any verdict delivered by a Montgomery jury would be suspect because of all the local publicity surrounding the killings and Morva's escape.
The second attempted trial will be held in Abingdon, where Judge Ray Grubbs moved the case after three days of trying to find a suitably unbiased jury in Montgomery.
"I don't think there was as much publicity about this case down there" in Abingdon, defense attorney Tom Blaylock said. "I think we might have a jury in two days." Montgomery prosecutor Brad Finch, who is seeking the death penalty, agreed.
Morva is charged with capital murder in the 2006 shooting deaths of unarmed hospital guard Derrick McFarland, 32, and Montgomery sheriff's Cpl. Eric Sutphin, 40.
Morva, who grew up in the Midlothian area before his father moved the family to Blacksburg, was in the Montgomery County Jail in August 2006 awaiting trial on robbery charges when he made his escape. A massive, 36-hour manhunt for Morva prompted Virginia Tech to shut down on the first day of fall semester classes and resulted in students fleeing in a panic from one campus building after someone reported seeing Morva inside.
Investigators say Morva cracked a deputy's face with a toilet-paper dispenser and escaped from Montgomery Regional Hospital, where he had been taken for injuries early in the morning of Aug. 20, 2006. An eyewitness testified that Morva shot an unarmed McFarland and fled the hospital. A day later, Morva allegedly shot and killed Sutphin, who was on a hiking trail near the Virginia Tech campus looking for the escapee.
The trial is scheduled to run through March 14, but Finch said it might not take that long. He declined to discuss what kind of case he will put on, but some of the testimony likely to be heard was previewed in November 2006 during a preliminary hearing in a Montgomery court.
In that hearing, Deputy Russell Quesenberry, who had taken Morva to the hospital, testified that Morva overpowered him in a hospital restroom and knocked him unconscious. When he came to, his .40-caliber pistol was gone. A patient, Jennifer Preston, testified that she saw Morva shoot McFarland dead as the security guard tried to calm him. Johnathan Chisum, a physician's assistant, testified that he saw Morva then shoot the exit doors open and flee.
Finch presented no testimony about Sutphin's death during the preliminary hearing. But authorities say Morva shot Sutphin on an isolated hiking trail in Blacksburg early Aug. 21 as Sutphin took part in the search for Morva. Deputies found a weapon not far from where they captured Morva.
A jury convicted Morva of the robbery charges in March. He is serving a 38-year prison term.

Wire Service

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Posted by: kwflatbed

Virginia Deputy's Killer Sentenced to Death


By SUE LINDSEY
Associated Press Writer


CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. --
A jail escapee who set off a manhunt near Virginia Tech's campus by killing a hospital guard and later, a sheriff's deputy, was sentenced to death Monday despite his attorney's pleas for leniency.
William Morva, 26, was convicted of capital murder in March in the August 2006 killings. A jury had previously recommended the death penalty.
Before Morva was sentenced, defense attorney Thomas Blaylock pleaded for mercy. Morva said few people in the courtroom "understand what that means," a statement that evoked an angry outburst from the widow of one of his victims.
"You didn't show no mercy when you killed my husband. ... You deserve to burn in hell," Cindy McFarland yelled before being escorted out of the courtroom briefly.
Montgomery County Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs told Morva he was imposing the death penalty because "lives have been shattered" by crimes that were committed "all for no other reason than your own selfish motives."
Morva was a jail inmate who had been taken to a Blacksburg hospital for treatment of an injury when he overpowered a Montgomery County sheriff's deputy there. He used the deputy's pistol to shoot security guard Derrick McFarland, 32, who was unarmed.
He shot Sheriff's Cpl. Eric Sutphin, 40, one day later on a walking trail near the Virginia Tech campus, which had been shut down on the first day of classes during a police manhunt for him.
The trial was moved 100 miles away because of difficulty seating a jury.
Jurors heard emotional prosecution testimony about the two men's lives. Family members and those who witnessed McFarland's killing testified that they still suffer from nightmares.
The defense portrayed Morva as an eccentric free spirit with a personality disorder. Defense attorney Tony Anderson argued that life in prison would be a more severe punishment than death for Morva, whose killing spree was spawned by a fear of returning to jail.
Grubbs on Monday affirmed the jury's decision to agree with Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch that Morva's crimes met two legal conditions to qualify for the most severe punishment: presenting a danger to society and depravity of mind.
He set an execution date of Oct. 21, but Morva will have an automatic appeal.


Wire Service

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Posted by: Hb13

Good riddance.

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Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hb13 Good riddance.

You stole my line!

Good riddance.

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Posted by: Hb13

lol
It was the only thing to say.

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Posted by: Delta784

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed The defense portrayed Morva as an eccentric free spirit with a personality disorder.

In other words, a spoiled brat who never had to take responsibility for his actions.

Quote:

Originally Posted by kwflatbed Defense attorney Tony Anderson argued that life in prison would be a more severe punishment than death for Morva, whose killing spree was spawned by a fear of returning to jail.

Yes....defense lawyers always ask for the more severe punishment for their clients.

Ta-Ta, William. I hope you're wearing that same stupid smile on your face as in your booking photo when they slide the needle into your arm, and when you have to meet your maker.

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