William Charles Morva exits the Montgomery County Courthouse.
Memories of William Morva, the fugitive whose alleged escape caused a campus lockdown on the first day of classes last year, are starting to resurface in light of the upcoming capital murder trial that will be held on Monday, September 17.
Morva faces two charges of capital murder and one count of attempting to use a firearm to commit murder.
While being held on charges of armed robbery committed in 2005, the 24-year-old Morva was transferred to Montgomery Regional Hospital after complaining about an injury to his arm and leg he suffered while in jail. X-rays came back negative and it was confirmed that his injuries were minimal: a sprained wrist and some scratches.
After only being seen by the physicians for 10 minutes, Morva allegedly eluded the deputy guarding him and stolen his pistol, leading law enforcement officials on a nationally televised manhunt and allegedly killing hospital security officer Derrick McFarland and Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin.
The 37-hour manhunt came to an end when Morva was apprehended on the Huckleberry Trail a 150 yards from where Sutphin was killed.
On June 29, 2007, Morva was sentenced to 38 years in jail for the six charges he faced before the incident in August 2006, including attempted armed robbery. Before pleading guilty to all charges, Morva and his defense attorney Thomas DeBusk requested to have the trial moved to a different location, arguing that with the publicity received by Morva, it would be impossible to receive an impartial jury.
That request was denied then as it was on August 1 in anticipation of the capital murder trial that will begin on Monday.
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