Police detectives who questioned UVM murder suspect Brian Rooney in the days before he was charged say he talked on his own, they didn’t coerce him.
The 37-year-old Richmond man is charged with aggravated murder in the death last year of Michelle Gardner-Quinn, a 21-year-old senior who had just transferred into UVM. She disappeared October 7th and was found dead nearly a week later at Huntington Gorge in Richmond.
His lawyer’s trying to get statements Rooney made to police thrown out of his upcoming trial. Attorney David Sleigh says police intimidated Rooney and didn’t honor requests to have a lawyer present when he was questioned. Several officers and detectives took the stand yesterday in Vermont District Court in Burlington, saying they never threatened Rooney or questioned him without his lawyer once he was charged.
The hearing is expected to last all week. No date has been set for the trial yet.