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Death sentence in Va. guard, deputy slaying

The Washington Post

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. — A judge has set the punishment as death for a jail escapee who killed a hospital guard and a sheriff’s deputy.

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs imposed a jury’s recommended sentence Monday for 26-year-old William Morva, who was convicted of capital murder in March.

Grubbs set an execution date of October 21, but Morva will have an automatic appeal.

Morva overpowered a sheriff’s deputy at a hospital where he had been taken for treatment in August 2006, and used the deputy’s pistol to shoot security guard Derrick McFarland.

He shot sheriff’s Corporal Eric Sutphin one day later near the Virginia Tech campus, which had been shut down on the first day of classes while police searched for him.

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