Police Catch Escaped Inmate Wanted in Killings

BLACKSBURG, Va. - An escaped inmate wanted in the shooting deaths of a hospital guard and a sheriff's deputy has been found, Blacksburg police say.

Blacksburg police say they caught 24-year-old William Morva at approximately 3:30 p.m., as officials from the town and Virginia Tech were holding a news conference.

Police say Morva was found hiding in a briar patch on an off-campus trail about 150 yards from where the deputy was shot this morning. A weapon also was recovered, but police would not elaborate.

Morva was quickly taken in shackles to the Montgomery County Jail under a heavy police presence and was to be transferred to a regional facility for security reasons.

The manhunt began after Morva, who was jailed on charges of robbing a deli, escaped after being taken to the Montgomery Regional Hospital emergency room on Sunday in handcuffs and leg irons after he suffered a sprained wrist and ankle, Sheriff Tommy Whitt says.

He overpowered a deputy and took his pistol. Shots were fired, killing hospital security guard Derrick McFarland, 26, as he tried to help the deputy.

Police say Morva allegedly shot a police officer on the trail at about 7:30 a.m. Monday near the Blacksburg Public Library and police station.

Police have identified the officer who was shot and killed as Montgomery County, Va., Sheriff's Deputy Eric Sutphin.

Sutphin was a 13-year veteran of the force and had received a commonwealth medal of valor for his role in a May 2003 incident when cornered a suspect fleeing a fatal police shooting in Christiansburg.

On Monday morning, Virginia State Police, Virginia Tech, Blacksburg and Montgomery County, Va. authorities searched for Morva along Huckleberry Trail, a six-mile trail near the Virginia Tech campus that connects Blacksburg with Christiansburg.

Morva had been jailed awaiting trial on charges of attempting to rob a store last year.

The manhunt for Morva prompted Virginia Tech to cancel classes -- the first day of the fall semester -- and lock down the campus.

Authorities used helicopters and dogs to sweep an area that included the university campus, about one block from the Blacksburg Police Station.

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