College Student's Killer Gets Life Sentence

Calling him "evil" and "the lowest of the low," Judge Michael Kupersmith sentenced the killer of Vermont college student Michelle Gardner-Quinn to life in prison without the possibility of parole. Brian L. Rooney continued to proclaim his innocence at the sentencing hearing.

Rooney, 38, has already appealed his conviction for the murder of 21-year-old Gardner-Quinn.

"I am so sorry for what you are going through, but I am not the man responsible for this tragic event. And it saddens me to have to tell you that," Rooney told Gardner-Quinn's parents who were present at the sentencing.

On Oct. 7, 2006, Gardner-Quinn was leaving a friend's birthday party at a restaurant in downtown Burlington when her cell phone stopped working. She bumped into Rooney and asked to borrow his cell phone, prosecutor said. She was seen walking with Rooney past a jewelry store's surveillance camera.

'Choked by Evil'

Six days later, her half-nude body was found stuffed into a rock crevice and covered with leaves at Huntington Gorge. She had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled.

"There are some people that are so bound in evil, so choked by evil, that they cannot change. And for these people, I feel the death penalty is appropriate," said Diane Gardner Quinn, Michelle's mother.

Under Vermont law however, the only sentence available for aggravated murder is life without parole.

See Also:
Killer Gets Life for Killing Vt. College Student

Earlier Articles:
Convicted Vermont Killer Seeks New Trial
Man Charged in Gardner-Quinn Murder
Missing Vermont Student's Body Found
Vermont Student Disappears While Walking Home

^{Photo: Family Photo}