William Morva | Murderpedia, the encyclopedia of murderers

William Charles Morva (born c. 1982) was a fugitive featured on America's Most Wanted who was responsible for the two shooting deaths of Sheriff's deputy Cpl. Eric Sutphin and hospital security guard Derrick McFarland, in the city of Blacksburg, Virginia, United States, near the university campus of Virginia Tech. He was sentenced to death on May 23, 2008. Judge Ray Grubs set the execution date for October 21, 2008, but Morva will have an automatic appeal.

Background

William Morva lived in the Midlothian, Virginia area until his father, Charles Morva, retired and moved the family to Blacksburg. Charles worked as a substitute teacher at Blacksburg High School and barista at a local coffee shop until moving back to the Richmond area with his wife, Elizabeth. Charles Morva died in April 2004. Acquaintances say that they saw a decline in William Morva's behavior after the death of his father.

Morva had been a drifter without a permanent fixed address prior to his initial arrest in 2005. A self-professed survivalist, he was almost always without shoes, and spoke of spending nights in the woods around Blacksburg.

Escape and capture

While in jail awaiting trial for attempted armed robbery, Morva was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital on August 20, 2006 for a sprained ankle and wrist. After using a hospital bathroom, he assaulted and knocked a deputy unconscious using a metal toilet-paper container. He seized the deputy's gun and shot Derrick McFarland, a hospital security guard who was running to the deputy's aid. McFarland died from his wounds.

This initiated a manhunt for Morva, who on the morning of August 21, 2006 shot and killed a Montgomery County sheriff's deputy, Cpl. Eric Sutphin, on the Huckleberry Trail near the Virginia Tech Campus. Sutphin, born 1966, had been an officer for a total of 13 years and had survived a prior shooting in May 2003, which killed officer Scott Hylton, leading Sutphin to quit the police force; he returned, however, after just six months away despite making much more money as a modular home salesman. He was survived by his wife, Tamara, and his seven-year-old twin daughters.

Police evacuated and searched Squires Student Center on the campus after someone fitting Morva's description was seen inside. However, this sighting turned out to be unfounded. Virginia Tech canceled classes and closed campus. At 3:36 p.m. EDT August 21, 2006, Montgomery County police reported over the police scanner that Morva was captured and taken into custody. He was found hiding in a briar patch about 150 yards from where Sutphin was fatally shot.

Aftermath and related incidents

Morva's brother, Michael Akos Morva, has been charged with conspiring to escape. The alleged conspiracy occurred in January 2006, when both brothers were in jail on charges related to attempted thefts. Michael has denied any connection with Morva's August 2006 escape from police custody.

On August 29, 2006, Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch announced that Morva would be charged with capital murder and use of a firearm in the shooting death of McFarland. A second capital murder charge would be sought in the shooting death of Sutphin, to be decided on at the grand jury meeting on October 10, 2006. Finch also stated that he would seek the death penalty for Morva.

Morva’s defense attorney requested a change of the trial location for Morva’s original robbery charges. The cases include the failed armed robbery of the Blacksburg Deli Mart and attempted burglaries of Blacksburg’s Freedom First Credit Union, Food Time and Burger King.

The trial was to be held at Montgomery County Circuit Court, but Morva’s attorneys argued it would be impossible to find an impartial jury in Montgomery County due to the publicity Morva received since his escape and the subsequent murders. Morva’s attorney is quoted as saying, “I don’t think there (have) been this many cases that have gotten nearly as much attention.”

Morva's trial hearings began September 17, 2007, in Montgomery County for two counts of capital murder, and one count of attempting to commit murder with a firearm. On September 20, Judge Ray Grubbs ruled, following a jury selection process in which 45 prospective jurors were dismissed for cause, that the trial could not be held in Montgomery County. On March 13, 2008 Morva was sentenced to death.

Morva sentenced to death

By Meg Miller - CollegiateTimes.com

Friday, March 14, 2008

A jury recommended the death penalty yesterday for William Morva, who was found guilty of killing two in Montgomery County in August 2006.

The Washington County jury deliberated for three hours before agreeing that 26-year-old Morva should be executed rather than be sentenced to life in prison without parole. Yesterday's decision took slightly less than the three-and-a-half hour deliberation at the same courthouse on Tuesday that found him guilty of capital murder.

Morva was found responsible for killing an unarmed hospital security guard, Derrick McFarland, as well as sheriff's Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff's office, following his escape from Montgomery Regional Hospital. Morva was also convicted of an additional count of capital murder for killing two people within three years.

In addition to the three counts of capital murder, Morva faced two counts of use of a firearm in commission of a felony, one count of assault and battery of a police officer, and one count of escape with force, according to the Commonwealth Attorney's Web site.

Members of the victims' families and Morva's mother wept after the reading of the verdict, while Morva snapped his fingers and slightly smiled at the decision of his fate.

According to the AP, Montgomery County Commonwealth's Attorney Brad Finch called for the death penalty in his closing statement, saying Morva's crimes presented a danger to society and depravity of mind, the two legal conditions for the most severe punishment. Defense attorney Tony Anderson argued that the killing spree was spawned by Morva's fear of returning to jail, and that life in prison would be a more severe punishment than death.

Witnesses who went to high school with Morva described him as caring and gentle, but a psychiatrist who examined him after his arrest said he exhibited nearly all of the traits of schizotypal personality disorder, making him an intense, inflexible person unable to see the perspective of others.

On Aug. 20, 2006, after complaining of a sprained ankle, Morva was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital from Montgomery County Jail, where he was being held on charges of robbery.

After using a restroom at the hospital, he overpowered the deputy guarding him with a toilet paper dispenser, shot and killed McFarland and fled from the hospital. His escape prompted a 36-hour manhunt by police in the area.

On Aug. 21, he killed Sutphin, who was on bicycle patrol while participating in the search for Morva on the Huckleberry trail.

During the hunt for Morva, Virginia Tech canceled the first day of classes and closed the campus.

Morva's trial was moved to Washington County after an unsuccessful jury selection in Montgomery County. The defense was concerned that Morva could not receive a fair trial because of the case's high profile in the area.

Jury recommends Death Penalty for William Morva

By Rex Bowman - Richmond Times-Dispatch

March 14, 2008

ABINGDON—A jury yesterday recommended a death sentence for William Morva, a former beatnik who fatally shot an unarmed hospital guard and a sheriff’s deputy during a 2006 jail escape.

The jury took three hours to reach its decision, which left the victims’ families in tears as they hugged each other in Washington County Circuit Court. Morva looked cheerful, snapping his fingers and smiling when the death penalty was announced. His mother, sitting behind him, wept.

The mother of Montgomery sheriff’s deputy Eric Sutphin, one of the two victims, said justice had been served.

“My son gave his life for the justice system, and this is what he would have wanted,” said a tearful Jeaneen Sutphin.

“I’m extremely happy; I’m very happy,” said Cindy McFarland, widow of hospital guard Derrick McFarland. “I believe he deserved it. He feels no remorse whatsoever. He took two innocent people who didn’t deserve to die, and now he deserves to die.”

Derrick McFarland’s father also was pleased with the jury’s recommendation.

“I’m not really a proponent of the death penalty, but in certain cases I agree with it, and this is one of them,” Harold McFarland said. “This guy showed no remorse. He reacted [to the jury’s decision] as if he’d won the lottery. He snapped his fingers and spoke to the lawyer as if he’d won.”

On Tuesday, jurors convicted Morva of capital murder for shooting McFarland, 32, and Sutphin, 40.

At the time of the shootings and his escape, Morva was an inmate at Montgomery County Jail. He was taken to Montgomery Regional Hospital on Aug. 20, 2006, for treatment of minor injuries. He beat a deputy, took his .40-caliber Glock pistol, and used it to shoot McFarland in the face as the unarmed guard held out his hands, palms up, in a posture a witness described as passive.

The next day, Morva shot Sutphin in the back of the head as Sutphin took part in a massive manhunt for Morva in Blacksburg. Sutphin’s body was found along the wooded Huckleberry Trail, not far from where deputies later found Morva hiding with the pistol.

The search prompted Virginia Tech to cancel the first day of fall classes after someone reported that Morva might have been in one of the campus buildings. Publicity surrounding the escape and killings prompted a judge to move the trial from Montgomery to Abingdon.

During a trial that began last week, Morva was portrayed as a free-spirited, caring and intelligent teenager who became increasingly odd after reaching his 20s. Those who knew him testified that he walked around downtown Blacksburg in his bare feet, eschewed his apartment for life on the street and in cafés, slept on friends’ couches and worked odd jobs only long enough to earn enough money to survive.

A psychiatrist testified that Morva suffered from a personality disorder that made him think police were out to get him, focused him unnaturally on his health and left him overly suspicious. His diet consisted of meat and nuts.

Defense attorneys had pleaded with jurors to sentence Morva to life in prison, arguing that his frustration at being in jail—amplified by a bowel condition that made trips to the toilet a torment—was so great in 2006 that life in prison would be worse punishment than execution.

“Lock that jail and throw away the key,” defense attorney Tony Anderson urged jurors, contending that Morva’s death would be a kind of freedom. “Don’t let your hands unlock the chains, open the door and allow Mr. Morva to escape again.”

But Montgomery prosecutor Bradley W. Finch argued that Morva’s distaste for confinement was one of the reasons jurors needed to have Morva put to death: Morva, Finch said, could escape and kill again.

“What makes this particular defendant so dangerous is that this defendant is extremely intelligent and extremely violent,” Finch said.

“Could there be more of a future danger than the combination of extreme intelligence and extreme violence, the combination of an individual who lives by his own rules, who doesn’t feel the rules apply to him?”

Morva was convicted of three counts of capital murder: one for killing McFarland, one for killing Sutphin, and one for committing two murders in less than three years. The jury recommended death for all three counts.

Montgomery Circuit Judge Ray Wilson Grubbs is set to formally sentence Morva on June 23. Judges in Virginia can lower a jury’s sentence but rarely do.

Jury recommended the death penalty

Associated Press

ABINGDON, Va. (AP) - A jury recommended the death penalty Thursday for a man who murdered a hospital security guard and a sheriff’s deputy after escaping from custody.
Families of his victims and his own mother wept as the verdicts were read, but William Morva smiled slightly and snapped his fingers. He nodded to jurors and patted his attorney after he learned his fate.

“He seemed to be acting like he won the lottery,” said Harold McFarland, whose son Derrick was one of Morva’s victims.

It took about three hours for the Washington County jury to agree that Morva, 26, should be executed rather than face life in prison without parole. That’s slightly less than it took the panel Tuesday to convict him of capital murder in the August 2006 killings.

Cindy McFarland, McFarland’s widow, said her tears during the verdict were of happiness.
“He took two innocent people who didn’t deserve to die, and now he deserves to die,” she said.

Harold McFarland said after Thursday’s verdict that he is not a vengeful person, but believed the death penalty was appropriate in certain cases.

“This is one of them,” he said.

Jurors heard heart-rending prosecution testimony about the victims’ exemplary lives, while the defense portrayed the killer as an eccentric free spirit with a personality disorder.

Montgomery County Commonwealth’s Attorney Brad Finch called for the death penalty in his closing statement, saying Morva’s crimes met both legal conditions for the most severe punishment: presenting a danger to society and depravity of mind.

“He is both extremely intelligent and extremely violent,” he said. “That is a deadly combination.”

Morva “showed no mercy” when he shot McFarland in the face from two feet away, Finch said. He then had more than a day to think about what he had done before he shot Sutphin in the back of the head.

“It did not faze him,” he said. “That is depraved.”

Defense attorney Tony Anderson said the killing spree was spawned by Morva’s fear of returning to jail, and that life in prison would be more severe punishment than death.
Anderson acknowledged that what Morva did was horrible, and urged jurors to “lock that jail and throw away the key” because death would represent freedom to his client.

“Don’t let your hands unlock the chains, open the door and allow Mr. Morva to escape again,” he said.

High school friends of Morva described him as caring and gentle. But a psychiatrist who examined him after his arrest said he exhibited nearly all of the traits of schizotypal personality disorder, which made him an intense, inflexible person who was unable to see the perspective of others.

The defense said Morva had felt a building sense of frustration in jail, where he had been held for months without bond after his arrest on attempted robbery charges.

Morva guilty in botched robberies

The jury recommended a 38-year sentence for the man better known for being charged in two killings.

By Shawna Morrison - The Roanoke Times

Saturday, March 31, 2007

CHRISTIANSBURG — A jury late Friday recommended that William Morva spend 38 years in prison for his role in botched attempts to rob one Blacksburg business and break into two others in 2005.

The Montgomery County jury took only half an hour to agree on how much time Morva should serve, after taking 2 1/2 hours earlier to find him guilty of seven related charges and not guilty of one count of destruction of property.

Before recommending a sentence, the jury heard from a tearful Elizabeth Morva, whose testimony shed some light on her son, who has come to be known only for accusations that he killed two men.

William Morva, 25, is charged with three counts of capital murder in connection with the shooting deaths of Derrick McFarland, a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital, and Cpl. Eric Sutphin of the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office. A trial on those charges and several others related to his August escape is scheduled to begin Sept. 17.

Morva is accused of killing McFarland and Sutphin after he reportedly overpowered a deputy and escaped custody at the hospital, where he was being treated for injuries the morning of Aug. 20.

Morva was an inmate at Montgomery County Jail at the time. His escape came just three days before he was scheduled to go to trial on the robbery and burglary charges.
Elizabeth Morva said her elderly husband, William Morva’s father, Charles Morva, died in 2004 after suffering from colon cancer for two years.

William Morva showed up at the funeral shabbily dressed and barefoot, she said.

“His mind was not normal,” she said. “His thoughts were not normal. He was disconnected.”

The day after the funeral, the family went out to dinner, Elizabeth Morva said. William Morva didn’t want to talk about his father, but cried over the plight of the American Indian.

She said it became clear to her on several occasions that he needed mental help, but she didn’t know how to get it. She begged him to move to Chesterfield County, where she lived, but he refused to leave Blacksburg.

Two of William Morva’s former friends, Stanford Harvey and Gregory Nelson, testified that Morva was an active player in attempts to break into the Freedom First Credit Union ATM and in breaking out the door to the Burger King on Turner Road and trying to cut into a safe in the restaurant’s office in July 2005.

They said he threatened to kill them with chloroform and burn or bury their bodies if they ever turned him in.

Morva’s mouth fell open and he shook his head, looking bewildered, as Harvey and Nelson testified.

Harvey, who admitted to driving the getaway car for the Glade Road Deli Mart robbery, said it was Morva’s idea for him and another man, Jeffrey Scott Roberts, to carry loaded weapons into the store.

Jeanette McClingberg said she had just locked up to close the night of Aug. 16, 2005, when she saw two armed, masked men outside the store.

One of them ran toward the automatic door and cussed when it wouldn’t open, she said.

Although the man was masked, McClingberg said she could make out his dark, “evil-looking” eyes and prominent “Jay Leno chin.”

After running from the store, Roberts was captured minutes later in a nearby wooded area. Morva was arrested later after a tracking dog followed his scent.

Blacksburg police Officer Brian Cross said Morva told him he had gone into the wooded area to retrieve his 12-gauge shotgun. Someone he couldn’t identify had taken the gun and he wanted to get it back before something bad happened, Cross said Morva told him.

Detective Sgt. Anthony Wilson said Morva told him the same story a year later, days before his escape. No one believed his story, though, Wilson said.

Wilson also said that Morva desperately wanted to be granted bond. He couldn’t stand being in jail and felt as though he’d been wrongly incarcerated, Wilson said.

After the two-day trial, which had started Thursday with a full day of jury selection, wrapped up Friday night, Commonwealth’s Attorney Brad Finch said he was pleased with the outcome.

He said he doesn’t think the pending capital murder charges played a factor in the jury’s decision, though every juror had admitted during jury selection that they were aware of them.

Morva’s defense attorney, Thomas DeBusk, said he and Morva had discussed the option of Morva’s testifying but decided it was best he didn’t take the stand.

Morva faces five to 73 years in prison on the seven convictions.

Circuit Judge Ray Grubbs, who presided over the trial, will formally sentence him in late June.

Escapee Kills Two Before Capture, Police Say

By Ian Urbina - The New York Times

August 22, 2006

An escaped jail inmate shot and killed a deputy sheriff and a security guard before the police caught him in the woods near Virginia Tech University in Blacksburg, a police lieutenant said yesterday.

The capture ended a manhunt that had locked down most businesses and municipal buildings in the city.

The escape led to the cancellation of the first day of classes at the university, with many of the 25,000 undergraduates staying in their dormitories.

The inmate, William Morva, 24, escaped on Sunday while being treated at Montgomery County Regional Hospital for a sprained ankle and wrist. Mr. Morva overpowered and injured an officer guarding him, then took his gun, officials said.

As Mr. Morva fled, he shot Derrick McFarland, 26, an unarmed hospital security guard who died from his wounds, the police lieutenant, Joe Davis, said.

About 7 a.m. yesterday, Mr. Morva shot and killed Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin, who had worked for the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department for 13 years. Corporal Sutphin had confronted Mr. Morva near the head of Huckleberry Trail, connecting the university campus and the hospital, Robert Parker, a county spokesman, said.

Police officials said that in capturing Mr. Morva they recovered the weapon believed to have been used in the two shootings.

In 2003, Corporal Sutphin was awarded the Governor’s Medal of Valor for bravery in pursuing and capturing the killer of a fellow officer, despite having been shot twice.

Mr. Morva was awaiting trial after being charged in August 2005 in connection with the attempted robbery of a convenience store in Blacksburg.

Daniel B. Thorp, a history professor at Virginia Tech, said most people on campus remained calm despite the police activity. Professor Thorp said he was involved in orientation for about 12 new graduate students when he started receiving phone and e-mail messages saying the southern part of the campus was cordoned off. The messages eventually told him that most buildings should be locked from the inside.

Because the manhunt began around 2 a.m, most students arriving on campus were aware of it, he said.

“Most of the chatter has been about what it takes to get a gun permit around here,” Professor Thorp said.

Christina Gardner, a bartender at the Rivermill bar in downtown Blacksburg, said she was a close friend of Mr. Morva, having attended Blacksburg High School with him. He regularly used the shower at her apartment, she said, to clean up, because he was homeless and lived in the woods.

“I never knew him to be a monster,” said Ms. Gardner, 24, who recounted how Mr. Morva intervened in a fight years ago and saved an older man’s life one night when drunk teenagers tried to rob him.

Ms. Gardner said that several months ago she heard from a shared acquaintance that Mr. Morva was in jail in the section where sexual offenders were housed.

“One of my friends saw him in the jail,” she said, “and was really worried about what was happening to him over there and whether he was getting sexually assaulted or something. I do wonder whether what happened at the hospital might have been his attempt to get out of jail.”

An official at the county jail who answered the phone but refused to give his name said he did not believe that Ms. Gardner’s information was correct. He refused to give more details or to transfer the call for more details.

Shooting suspect caught in Blacksburg

By Amy L. Kovac, Angela Manese-Lee, Matt Gentry, Albert Raboteau, Donna Alvis-Banks, Robert Anderson, Greg Esposito and Shay Barnhart

The Roanoke Times

Monday, August 21, 2006

William Morva, accused of killing a police officer and a security guard, is captured after a day-and-a-half manhunt that prompts the shutdown and evacuation of Virginia Tech.

UPDATED 5:57 p.m.

Before he landed on national news Web sites, accused double murderer William Morva was already notorious on the downtown Blacksburg scene.

Known for refusing to wear shoes, and not having a job, he is described by former neighbor Anthony Seay as “nice, but weird.”

Others have used less polite words.

At one point after Morva’s arrest on armed robbery charges last year, a T-shirt with a silk-screened image of him, surrounded by the words “William Morva Is An A******,” became a local fad fashion item.

The shirt was made by Rebecca Cartage and her boyfriend Mark Williams, in response to an inside joke and a phone debt.

Williams had tried to help Morva out by arranging cell phone service for him because Morva lacked a credit card, Cartage said. When Morva was arrested on an armed robbery charge last year he was unable to pay Williams back and Williams wound up on the hook for $389, Cartage said.

To cover the debt the couple, who are now working on an organic farm in Michigan in exchange for room and board, started selling the T-shirts for $5 apiece. They sold about 50 shirts, which covered about half the phone bill, Cartage said.

She said Morva used to always joke that he could make money selling such a shirt, “but it never got off the ground because he wouldn’t let us take his picture.”

After Morva’s robbery arrest, they got the picture they needed – his mug shot.

UPDATED 5:38 p.m.

Authorities gave more details of the capture today of William Morva, saying he was found hiding in a briar patch about three-quarters of a mile from the entrance to the Huckleberry Trail and about 150 yards from the scene of this morning's fatal shooting of Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin.

Morva was apprehended without incident, officials said. Officers had already searched the area without finding him but he was located on a second pass.

Morva was wearing shorts but no shoes or shirt.

Morva is accused of shooting Sutphin at around 7:15 this morning. He also is accused of shooting Montgomery Regional Hospital guard Derrick McFarland in the early hours of Sunday morning.

Another deputy who was injured while trying to help McFarland remains hospitalized with a concussion and possible facial fractures, officials said.

Morva was charged with capital murder, use of a firearm in commission of a felony, escape and felony assault on a police officer in connection with Sunday's events. Additional charges are coming related to today, officials said.

He is presently being held at Montgomery County Jail but is expected to be transferred soon to either the New River Valley Regional Jail or a regional jail in Abingdon.

UPDATED 4:16 p.m.

A Blacksburg woman believes she gave fugitive William Morva a ride in her car about half an hour after the fatal shooting of a Montgomery County Sheriff’s officer today.

Morva, a Montgomery County Jail inmate who escaped while at Montgomery County Regional Hospital, is the prime suspect in the 7:15 a.m. shooting of Deputy Eric Sutphin on the Huckleberry Trail near the Blacksburg Library. Morva was apprehended around 3:40 p.m. after a massive manhunt that led Virginia Tech to cancel classes and send thousands of employees home on the first day of the fall term.

Mary Jane Smith said she left her Hightop Road home to drive to work at Tech when she saw a man along the road, near where it crosses the Huckleberry Trail, around 7:40 a.m.

“His hair was wet and spiked,” Smith said. “He was standing in the road just looking like he needed help.”

Smith said she had heard a little bit about Morva’s escape but did not become suspicious until her passenger asked her to avoid police barricades and take him to a bus stop. “As soon as he said that the flag came up,” Smith said.

She said she drove just a short distance on Hightop Road before pointing to a nearby road and telling her passenger it would lead him to a bus stop. “I said ‘get out here, quick, there’s someone behind me,’ and he listened,” Smith said.

She said she reported the incident to authorities. Smith said the man she drove was wearing dark slacks and a white shirt and carrying a zippered black bag, which was different than the police description of Morva wearing a tie-dyed t-shirt and khaki shorts that was circulated for much of the hunt.

Still, after looking at Morva’s picture online, Smith said that while she was not 100 percent sure, “I think it might be him.”

Smith said she had two feelings about the incident. "First, I’m scared second I wish I had done somthing so he was caught right then."

Authorities could not immediately confirm Smith's account.

UPDATED 4:10 p.m.

Virgina Attorney General Bob McDonnell issued a statement on the death of Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Cpl. Eric E. Sutphin and the capture of William Morva:

“Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department Corporal Eric E. Sutphin was a courageous Virginian. He dedicated his career to keeping the Commonwealth safe, and today the Commonwealth mourns his passing. He served his community with distinction as a law enforcement officer for 13-years, and was awarded the Governor’s Medal of Valor in 2003 when he was shot twice in the act of capturing the killer of another police officer. Today is a painful reminder of the peril faced daily by the law enforcement officers of Virginia, with seven having now fallen in the line of duty since January. They bravely serve, so that Virginians may safely live. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family and friends of Corporal Sutphin.”

“With the news of the capture of William Charles Morva, I commend all the members of law enforcement involved in this effort. This was a joint operation that utilized all branches of law enforcement, and they have done their job well.”

UPDATED 3:50 p.m.

Police say they have captured William Morva in woods near rugby and lacrosse fields on Blacksburg's Tech Center Drive. They say they have recovered a weapon believed to have been used in the shooting this morning of Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric E. Sutphin and the shooting early Sunday morning of Derrick McFarland, a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital. Both Sutphin and McFarland died.

Morva, 24, also is accused of injuring another deputy as he escaped custody at the hospital. Morva had been jailed since being charged last year in an attempted robbery.

UPDATED 3:19 p.m.

Traffic in downtown Blacksburg is returning to a normal pace. The police blockades at College Avenue and North Main Street remain, but Draper Road is open with no signs of the earlier mayhem -- except for the gathering of television stations microwave trucks in the municipal parking lot. Drivers ignored a “road closed” sign pushed to the side of the road at Draper and Roanoke Street.

Joe Meredith of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center said that he learned at lunchtime that authorities were conducting searches as people left the CRC. As a result, the CRC is asking employees to leave randomly so they don't get caught in a massive line at 5 p.m. Some tenants of the center let employees leave early. “A lot of them [employees] didn’t get here today," Meredith said from the center.

Nearly 2,000 people work at the CRC, which houses more than 100 technology-related companies. As of 3 p.m. Meredith had made no decision about opening tomorrow if the manhunt is still on.

“Let’s hope they find this dude and we can get back to normal life," Meredith said.

UPDATED 3:11 p.m.

Michael Morva, brother of shooting suspect William Morva, was booked into Montgomery County jail at 7:40 a.m. Sunday on charges of possessing marjuana and conspiring to escape, said Montgomery County Sheriff's Office Lt. Buddy Smith.

UPDATED 2:34 p.m.

The Montgomery County Jail confirmed that a Michael Morva is being held, though jail staff would not confirm that this is shooting suspect William Morva's brother.

The Michael Morva in the jail faces two charges of attempting to commit burglary, two charges of conspiring to commit burglary, and two charges of attempted grand larceny, according to online court records. The dates for the offenses match charges against William Morva related to attempted thefts last year.

The employer of William Morva's brother said that Michael Morva was arrested recently. She called Michael Morva a good worker who tried to help his brother pay for an attorney to represent him on the charges from last year.

UPDATED 2:11 p.m.

Police have spent the day racing to sometimes widely separated locations around Blacksburg in response to reported sightings of William Morva, who is accused of shooting and killing a Montgomery County sheriff's deputy this morning and a Montgomery Regional Hospital security guard on Sunday, as well as injuring a sheriff's deputy Sunday.

Road blocks have been set up at various points to close streets. At some points, officers are allowing traffic through after checking inside cars and even opening trunks.

Access to Tech's campus has been largely shut down, with classes canceled and staff evacuated. A few students were still out earlier this afternoon near the dormitories on Washington Street. The Roanoke-Blacksburg Smart Bus canceled its runs for the day.

Joe McNamara, a Tech senior and member of the Corps of Cadets, said that given Morva's youthful appearance and reported garb of a tie-dyed T-shirt and shorts, campus was a perfect place to hide.

"The dude looks like everyone else around here," McNamara said.

Earlier today, police evacutated Squires Student Center after a report that Morva might be inside. Stephen Kindl, a freshman from Frederick, Md., was in a classroom that was missed by the evacuation. He said he emerged to encounter an officer with a drawn gun.

A few moments later, his identity checked, Kindl was on his way again, shaken by the experience.

"It was crazy," he said, throwing his hands up.

UPDATED 1:37 p.m.

Bollo's, a downtown Blacksburg coffee shop that was frequented by William Morva before his arrest last year, has closed for the day amid managers' concerns that the the business could become a target.

In addition, as police close downtown roads and Virginia Tech canceled what was supposed to be the first day of classes, business came to an abrupt standstill after lunch. The usually busy intersection of College Avenue and Draper Road, located on the edge of Tech's campus, is nearly deserted.

Felicia Jackson, a barrista at Bollo's, said "It's not worth it for us to be here if nobody's in here."

Discussions are going on about closing Bollo's sister business, Gillie's, located around the corner. Other downtown businesses appear to be remaining open.

At Ceritano's Restaurant on Main Street, where William Morva's brother Michael is a waiter, manager Tina Ceritano said Michael Morva worked Saturday but had not been in since then. She called Michael Morva a good worker who had tried to help his brother pay for an attorney to represent him on last year's robbery charges.

UPDATED 1:16 p.m.

Police and university officials held a press briefing at 1 p.m., saying officers continue to search locations in Blacksburg and follow up on tips in the hunt for suspect William Morva. Lt. Joe Davis of the Blacksburg police repeated there have been no confirmed sightings of Morva on Virginia Tech campus.

Morva is considered armed and dangerous, Davis said. Morva still is thought to be wearing khaki shorts and a tie-dyed T-shirt over a white T-shirt. The last confirmed sighting of Morva was on the Huckleberry Trail this morning where Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin was shot to death.

No additional information was released on Sutphin's shooting or on the shooting death Sunday of a Montgomery Regional Hospital security guard and the wounding of another deputy.

UPDATED 1:11 p.m.

Virginia Tech is evacuating its campus in stages, telling staff in areas north of the Drillfield to go home for the day. Staff in other areas will be sent home later this afternoon, university spokesman Larry Hincker said.

UPDATED 1 p.m.

Gov. Tim Kaine has issued a statement condemning the killing of Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric E. Sutphin this morning.

"Corporal Eric Sutphin exemplified the highest traditions of law enforcement, and his 13-years of service with the Montgomery County Sheriff’s Department saw countless acts of courage and bravery," Kaine wrote.

“... Today, I extend the heartfelt condolences of an appreciative Commonwealth to Deputy Sutphin’s wife and daughters, his extended family, friends, and fellow officers.

“... I also want to extend my condolences to the family of Montgomery County Regional Hospital security guard Derrick McFarland, fatally shot Sunday by the jail inmate who remains at large."

Kaine said he was working with Virginia Tech President Charles Steger, Montgomery County Sheriff Tommy Whitt and others to provide resources and assistance in the ongoing search for shooting suspect William Morva.

Kaine also reassured parents of Tech students that police are taking "extraordinary action" to keep students safe.

UPDATED 12:42 p.m.

Montgomery County's Merrimac consolidated waste collection site has been closed. The Blacksburg Public Library also will remain closed until further notice.

UPDATED 12:18 p.m.

Blacksburg High School athletic director Jack Hencke said that all Blacksburg athletic practices for Monday, including a volleyball scrimmage, have been called off until further notice in relation to the manhunt. The varsity football team is scheduled to practice at 5 p.m., but will cancel practice if William Morva remains at large.

UPDATED noon

Downtown Blacksburg is quiet, though police are patroling College Avenue and other areas. The ongoing search for William Morva is the topic of conversation in restaurants and coffee shops, and everyone seems to have a cell phone glued to their ear. People who know William Morva recall the stomach problems that kept him from working, his struggles to get by financially and his self-described survivalist skills. Acquaintances say he studied military tactics and talked about living in the Jefferson National Forest.

Many people said they planned to stay downtown because it felt safer than heading home.

"I called my mom and said 'I'm OK,' " said Elizabeth Spencer, a Virginia Tech junior from Richmond. "I don't want to go home because I'd be alone."

UPDATED 11:45 a.m.

Montgomery County schools do not begin classes until Wednesday, but teachers and staff who are preparing for the coming year have been sent home from Blacksburg schools today because of the Morva situation, schools Superintendent Tiffany Anderson said. No other districts affected.

UPDATED 11:26 a.m.

Blacksburg New School, which is located near the area police are searching, has closed for the day.

UPDATED 11:12 a.m.

Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin, who died after being shot this morning, had been wounded in 2003 while exchanging gunfire with a man who had just shot and killed a Christiansburg police officer. He received the state Medal of Valor for his role in the incident. He left police work following the shooting, but returned to the force the following year.

UPDATED 11:07 a.m.

Police have confirmed that the officer shot this morning has died, and identified him as Montgomery County Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin.

UPDATED 10:42 a.m.

The Montgomery County Courthouse in Christiansburg is closed until further notice in connection with the hunt for William Morva, county spokesman Robert Parker confirmed. Police from multiple agencies continue to search sections of Virginia Tech campus and Blacksburg for Morva.

UPDATED 10:30 a.m.

BLACKSBURG -- A law enforcement officer was shot this morning near the head of the Huckleberry Trail near the Blacksburg Public Library and police station.

The suspect in the shooting, William Morva, remains at large and a manhunt has closed a section of Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech campus. Officers from multiple police agencies have been searching for Morva using a helicopter and dogs.

Police are now surrounding Tech's Squires Student Center. Police radio traffic indicates someone fitting Morva's description was seen inside.

Morva also is accused of killing a security guard at Montgomery Regional Hospital early Sunday. The killing came after Morva, who had been in Montgomery County Jail awaiting trial on charges of trying to rob a store last year, was taken to the emergency room in the early morning hours Sunday. He attacked the deputy guarding him, took his gun, and shot the security guard, according to police.

Police said this morning Morva is wearing a tie-dyed T-shirt and khaki shorts and had a white sheet wrapped around him. He is barefoot.

The condition of the officer who was shot this morning around 7:15 a.m. is not known, a Blacksburg police spokesman said.

Virginia Tech spokesman Larry Hincker said the campus is closed for the day. All students are urged to return to their dorms or off-campus apartments. Staff were told to remain in their offices. Hincker said there have been no confirmed sightings of Morva on campus. Reports of a hostage situation at Squires Student Center are unfounded. Squires has been shut down and will remain shut down. It had been searched by police.

The Blacksburg Public Library downtown has been closed.

Blacksburg High School athletic director Jack Hencke reports that all Blacksburg athletic practices for Monday, including a volleyball scrimmage, have been called off until further notice in relation to the manhunt.

The varsity football team is scheduled to practice at 5 p.m., but if the suspect isn't caught by then, they won't practice.

The search for Morva began after he was taken to the hospital to seek treatment for a sprained leg and wrist from a reported fall, Sheriff Tommy Whitt said Sunday. Procedure dictates that inmates are transported in handcuffs and leg irons to the hospital by a deputy sheriff assigned to the jail.

About 2:30 a.m. Sunday, Morva overpowered the officer, seized his pistol and shot Derrick McFarland, a hospital security guard, Davis said.

McFarland, a 33-year-old man living in Christiansburg, had tried to assist the deputy sheriff and prevent Morva's escape, police said.

Morva fled toward Hilltop Road, after shedding his orange jail-issued jumpsuit, police said.

McFarland died from his wounds. The deputy sheriff injured in Morva's escape was in stable condition at the hospital Sunday morning.