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.
Copyright 2008 The Richmond Times-Dispatch