Brian Rooney
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Brian Rooney (c. 1970) is a construction worker who is a suspect (and currently the only suspect), in the abduction and murder of 21-year-old college student Michelle Gardner-Quinn, a senior from the University of Vermont, located in Burlington, Vermont. The victim's body was found October 13, 2006 in a ravine at the Huntington Gorge in Richmond. He is currently being jailed on $150,000 bail, which he has not posted, on unrelated charges. Police say that he is the prime suspect in the Gardner-Quinn case. An autopsy on Michelle Gardner-Quinn revealed that she had been sexually assaulted and cause of death was strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head. Rooney was officially charged with her murder on October 25, 2006 when DNA from the sexual assault linked him to her. According to court documents, Rooney is believed to be the father of three children from three different mothers.
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[edit] Michelle Gardner-Quinn
On October 7, 2006 at 2:34 A.M., a jewelry store camera had caught Rooney walking on a sidewalk with the victim. It has been said that Gardner-Quinn had borrowed Rooney's cell phone to try to reunite with friends that she had been out with. According to Vermont police, it is also said that Rooney was the last person to see Gardner-Quinn alive.
[edit] Criminal history
Federal charges were filed against Rooney as of 1998. He is currently being charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor in Essex County, which is 80 miles east of the university. He is also being charged with sexual assault on a minor and on an 18 year old woman. Rooney is believed to have used ether-soaked cloths to subdue and incapacitate the woman in order to sexually assault or rape her. A former girlfriend (whom he had a child with) has said that he threatened to kill her on numerous occasions.
[edit] Guilty Verdict
Brian Rooney was found guilty of the murder of Michelle Gardner-Quinn on Thursday, May 22, 2008. He was sentenced to life in prison. [1]
[edit] References
- ^ Jury convicts man in rape-killing of Vermont collegian - Boston.com. www.boston.com. Retrieved on 2008-05-23.
