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Man sentenced to death for murdering unarmed hospital guard

Healthcare Security Weekly, June 30, 2008

A Montgomery (VA) County Circuit judge sentenced William Morva, 26, to death on June 23 for killing an unarmed hospital security guard and a deputy during an escape in August 2006.

Morva was an inmate in the Montgomery jail when he was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital in Blacksburg for treatment of minor injuries. He overpowered a sheriff’s deputy, took his .40-caliber Glock pistol, and used it to shoot unarmed security guard Derrick McFarland, 32. He set off a manhunt near Virginia Tech’s campus and later killed a sheriff’s deputy. He was convicted in March of capital murder and the jury recommended the death penalty.

At the sentencing, Morva’s attorney pleaded for leniency, reported the Associated Press (AP). As the attorney pleaded for mercy, Morva himself said, “I think there are very few people in this whole courtroom who understand what that means.” His comment drew an angry outburst from McFarland’s widow, the AP reported. “You didn't show no mercy when you killed my husband. ... You deserve to burn in hell," Cindy McFarland yelled before being escorted out of the courtroom briefly.

The judge set an execution date of October 1, but Morva will have an automatic appeal.

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