Jury convicts VA man of capital murder
ABINGDON, Va. (AP) - March 11, 2008 Jurors deliberated for about 3 1/2 hours before finding William
Morva guilty of the August 2006 slayings in Montgomery County.
Jurors will hear more testimony before deciding whether to
sentence Morva, 26, to death or to life in prison without parole.
Those are the only two sentencing options in capital murder cases
in Virginia.
Morva was convicted of overpowering a sheriff's deputy at a
hospital in Blacksburg and then using the deputy's pistol to kill
security guard Derrick McFarland. He also was found guilty of
killing sheriff's Cpl. Eric Sutphin one day later near the Virginia
Tech campus.
During the manhunt for Morva, Virginia Tech canceled classes on
the first day of its fall 2006 semester.
Jurors heard three days of testimony in the trial, which was
moved to Washington County from Montgomery County because of
difficulty seating a jury.