(Host) And now back to Sounds of 2008, our series that’s reviewing the top stories of the year.
In May, much of the state’s attention was focused on Rutland.
That’s where Brian Rooney of Richmond was on trial for the 2006 rape and murder of Michelle Gardner Quinn.
She was a University of Vermont student who was killed after a chance meeting with Rooney on a downtown Burlington street.
Diane Gardner Quinn, Michelle’s mother, was in the courtroom when Rooney was found guilty.
(Quinn) "Michelle has not been with us for 20 months as a living person, but her living spirit has been with us every day and her living spirit can be seen in all the good works that are being done in her name."
(Host) Besides a scholarship established by Gardner Quinn’s parents, a nonprofit environmental group also was founded in her memory.
Click here to go to the Our full Sounds of 2008 series can be found online at vpr-dot-net.
Brian Rooney found guilty in murder of Michelle Gardner Quinn
Photo: Michelle Gardner-Quinn’s mother Diane Gardner-Quinn hugs Burlington Police Chief Michael Schirling after Brian Rooney is sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole for the slaying of Michelle Gardner-Quinn, in Vermont District Court in Burlington Friday, October 17, 2008. (AP Photo/Alison Redlich, Pool)