Episode 125: The Murder of Michelle Garder Quinn
On October 6th, 2006, 21-year-old Michelle Gardner-Quinn was hanging out around Burlington, Vermont with her college friends, when she decided to separate from the group to meet up with another friend. Michelle was a new transfer to the University of Vermont and had been attending the school for roughly six weeks, making friends and joining clubs, fitting in easily. It was roughly 1:30am when Michelle had left her friends at a bar and ventured outside alone to go meet up with another friend. She was going to meet this friend at a nearby store called the Ski Rack.
Michelle made it to the store and called her friend, but didn’t get an answer. So she waited, and unfortunately, as luck would have it, her cellphone died. But, a man who had just left a nearby bar was walking past and allowed her to use his cellphone. She made several attempts to contact this friend again, but didn’t get any response. A jewelry store camera in downtown Burlington showed Michelle talking with this stranger, and eventually walking away with him. The pair appeared to be conversing normally with no signs of distress. This footage was the last time Michelle would ever be seen alive.
It wasn’t until October 13th, six days later, that Michelle’s beaten and strangled body was found 15 miles away at Huntington Gorge in Richmond, Vermont. She was half-dressed and had been violently sexually assaulted. She was stuffed into a crevice and covered with branches and leaves. An autopsy was performed and showed signs of strangulation and blunt force trauma. Her body also had DNA evidence left behind, which proved to be helpful to police in nailing down their suspect. As it turned out, the police already had someone on their radar, and it was, in fact, the very same man who let Michelle borrow his cellphone the morning she disappeared. His name was Brian Rooney, 36, and as the search for Michelle had occurred, police discovered his identity, questioned him, and revealed his long history of violent sexual crimes and predatory behavior.
It wasn’t long before Brian Rooney was arrested for Michelle’s murder. DNA evidence taken from a rectal swab was compared to Brian’s DNA profile and found to be a match. Brian’s defense team fought the allegations, but were unsuccessful. In spring of 2008, Brian was found guilty of aggravated murder. In October of 2008, 2 years after Michelle’s murder, Brian was sentenced to life without the possibility of parole. He remains in prison to this day.
Image sources:
woodlawnslost.wordpress.com - “Michelle Gardner Quinn”