The unsolved murder case of Manchester resident Sarah Hunter nearly four decades ago finally came to a close Tuesday.
The longtime suspect David A. Morrison pleaded guilty Tuesday afternoon to first-degree murder in Bennington County Criminal Court and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.
Earlier that morning, Morrison pleaded guilty in Berkshire Superior Court to a kidnapping in Massachusetts over 40 years ago and was sentenced to two to four years in prison, according to a joint press release from the Berkshire County State’s Attorney’s Office and the Bennington County State’s Attorney’s Office.
Morrison had been serving a life sentence with the possibility of parole in California for kidnapping with a firearm, sexual assault and robbery, according to the press release.
Morrison, 65, will serve out a life sentence without parole in Vermont, concurrent with the sentences in Massachusetts and California. Morrison was transferred and booked at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield Tuesday, according to the Vermont Department of Corrections offender locator.
“The guilty pleas entered by Mr. Morrison to these terrible crimes, including the abduction, sexual assault and murder of Vermont resident Sarah Hunter, bring a long-awaited resolution to cases whose impact continues to resonate through families and communities to this day,” said Maj. John-Paul Schmidt, commander of the Vermont State Police Criminal Division, according to the joint press release.
In September 1986, Hunter, a 32-year-old local golf pro at the time, was kidnapped and murdered, and her body was found in Danby. Morrison admitted to taking Hunter by force after she visited a gas station in Manchester. Morrison placed her in the trunk of his car bound and gagged and stabbed scissors into her ear, killing her, according to court documents.
Morrison faced charges for Hunter’s murder over a decade ago, but the case was dismissed after a discrepancy over where key evidence was located. Morrison pleaded not guilty at the time but told police earlier in a jailhouse interview he would address Hunter’s murder when he “felt it was time,” and that he thought he would not “take this to my grave.”
At the Berkshire Superior Court in Massachusetts, Morrison pleaded guilty Tuesday morning to kidnapping Laura Sheriden in 1981. A 15-year-old at the time, Sheriden was hitchhiking and received a ride from Morrison. After Morission passed her house and pulled out a gun, Sheriden fought Morrison and escaped the kidnapping, according to the press release.
Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage said at a Wednesday press conference that the cooperation between law enforcement and state officials in Vermont, California and Massachusetts was crucial in coming to a complex interstate agreement and finding resolution in these cases.
Jared Bianchi, Bennington County Deputy State’s Attorney, said in an interview that the three-state requisition agreement required review by attorneys in each state and a signature by the Governors of each of the three states, including Gov. Phil Scott.
Marthage gave special thanks to Detective Sergeant Samuel Truex, who was the original investigator of Hunter’s murder case and came out of retirement to aid its resolution 39 years later.
Morrison’s indictment in Massachusetts was the missing “chess piece” to closing the cases, Marthage added.
“I think it was just all those pieces and that collaboration and setting aside all of our individual agendas and getting this done,” Marthage said.
At the press conference, Sheriden said she admired the people dedicated to finding resolution for her and Hunter’s cases and the sense of “finality” it brought to the Hunter family.
Wilmington’s Haystack Golf Course has previously hosted golf tournaments named and held in Hunter’s honor, and “in recognition of the career she could have and should have had had David Morrison not crossed her path,” Sheriden said.
“Yesterday, when I kind of fully processed what this meant for Sarah Hunter, that was really tough,” Sheriden said. “I know she lives on through her family.”
