Michelle Gardner-Quinn
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Michelle Gardner-Quinn (January 28, 1985 - October ??, 2006) was an undergraduate at the University of Vermont who was kidnapped on October 7, 2006. Her body was later found along a road in the neighboring town of Richmond on October 13.
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[edit] Disappearance and Murder
In the early morning hours of October 7, Gardner-Quinn was walking home to her campus dormitory after a night out with friends. She borrowed a cell phone from a passerby, Brian Rooney, to call an acquaintance. A jewelery store surveillance camera captured Gardner-Quinn walking north with Rooney at approximately 2:34 am. [1]Six days later, her body was found by hikers near Huntington Gorge in Richmond, Vermont. An autopsy revealed she had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled. [2]
[edit] Suspect
At a press conference on October 13, police announced that they had found Gardner-Quinn's body and arrested Brian Rooney on separate charges unrelated to the case. [3] Rooney, a construction worker with several prior arrests, is facing charges from neighboring Caledonia County that pertain to sexual assault and lewd conduct with a child. In addition to being the person who last saw Gardner-Quinn, Rooney was reportedly seen with cuts on his hands when he stopped at a business in Winooski several days later. [4] On October 25, police announced that they had charged Rooney with aggravated homicide in the death of Gardner-Quinn. He pled not guilty. [5].
At a press meeting, Rooney's lawyer accidentally revealed confidential information about DNA evidence, which has caused the entire trial to go under lock-and-key, making updates harder to track. As of February 2007, no verdict or stirring news has come up.
[edit] In Her Memory
Cosmopolitan Magazine featured Michelle's story, "The Murder of a Beautiful Girl", in its February 2007 Issue.
A non-profit organization, Michelle's Earth Foundation (MEF) has been founded in her memory. It is devoted to promoting youth involvement and awareness in environmentalism, about which Michelle cared deeply.
