Lanesborough Woman's Bravery Key to Solving 40-Year-Old Murder
David A. Morrison
David A. Morrison, 65, pleaded guilty Tuesday in District Court in Pittsfield, Mass., to the kidnapping of Laura Sheridan in 1981 and, in Bennington Criminal Division Court, to the murder of 32-year-old Sarah Hunter of Manchester in 1986.
He was sentenced to up to four years on the kidnapping charge and life without parole on the murder charge, both to be served in Vermont and concurrent with a 20-to-life sentence he was serving in California. Morrison waived his right to appeal.
Sheridan, who was just 15 at the time, was hitchhiking home in Lanesborough when Morrison offered her ride; she subsequently struggled with him over a gun he pulled on her and was able to escape when he pulled his car over.
Hunter wasn't as fortunate: she was reported missing on Sept. 19, 1986, and her body was found in a wooded lot in Pawlet two months later.
"I spent 20 minutes with David Morrison and no more, then I escaped. ... I had luck on my side. So those are my emotions," said Sheridan at a press conference on Wednesday outside the Bennington County State's Attorney's Office in the Bennington State Office Complex
"And then yesterday, when I kind of fully processed what this meant for Sarah Hunter, that was really tough, because she wasn't lucky."
With Sheridan were State's Attorney Erica Marthage, Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue, Massachusetts State Police Maj. Jeff Boutwell and Det. Lt. Peter Sherber of the Unresolved Crimes Unit., and Maj. J.P. Schmidt, commander of the Vermont State Police's Major Crime Unit.
"It isn't often that you can look the victim of a crime in the eye more than 40 years later and tell them we have the suspect responsible behind bars, but that's exactly what we're able to do today," said Boutwell.
"It goes without saying that solving complex cases like these requires unwavering focus on the singular goal of delivering justice for the victims today, thanks to this team of investigators from Vermont and Massachusetts, we have done just that for the two victims in these cases, Laura Sheridan and Sarah Hunter."
Officials said Morrison had been the suspect in both incidents; he was acquitted of assault and firearms charges were dismissed, and an earlier attempt to bring a murder charge against him was dropped by Marthage because concerns over 40-year-old DNA evidence.
But, she said, Vermont law enforcement never stopped talking to California, where Morrison had been incarcerated since the late 1990s on similar kidnapping and sexual assault crimes.
Three things came together to reach Tuesday's confessions: a tip from an anonymous caller that Morrison may have been involved in murders and sexual assaults in the Berkshires and Vermont, Sheridan's willingness to return to Massachusetts for kidnapping charges against Morrison, and Det. Sgt. Thomas Truex, the original detective on the Hunter case, who came out of retirement to travel to California to speak with Morrison, who apparently trusted him.
It was also the collaborative work of police and prosecutors in Vermont and Massachusetts.
"This brings a modicum of closure to the people of Manchester for the crime that changed our community forever," said Marthage, holding up a black-and-white picture of Hunter. "Sarah's family will never enjoy that sense of closure, they will forever be haunted by this horrific crime and the loss of Sarah in a community where she was truly loved. ...
"As a lifelong resident of Manchester, I was 16 years old at the time of this crime and to be able to work on justice for Sarah has been the most meaningful goal of my career."
Shugrue said he didn't know why a kidnapping charge wasn't brought against Morrison back in 1981 — or how he could have been acquitted of the assault charges. But it turned out to be instrumental in the both cases.
"In May of 2024, I made a decision that we were going to indict him for the kidnapping. He had left the state of Massachusetts, so the statute of limitations had not expired," he said.
"We got in touch with Laura, and lo and behold, luckily, we found her. She was willing to come back. She was so brave and came and testified to the grand jury. So we're very pleased with that. We got the indictment. Once we had the indictment, we sort of we knew what he wanted."
What Morrison wanted, the prosecutors said, was to return to the East Coast, where he was from and where he had family.
"He didn't want to be in a California state prison. He wanted to be in Vermont State Prison," Shugrue said, adding there was a lot of conversation between the states on where he could serve his time.
It all hinged on whether Morrison would plead guilty, and he was true to his word.
"He did admit what happened. He got what he wanted. We got what we wanted," said the DA.
Shugrue and Marthage were asked if Morrison is a suspect in any other disappearances or crimes in the late 1970s and '80s.
"I never say never after this," said Marthage. "When I dismissed this case and that, you know, 2015 I thought there's no way in hell this is ever coming back. But here we are."
In the Berkshires, Lynn Burdick, 18, disappeared on April 17, 1982, from the convenience store she was working at in the town of Florida, and the same evening, a man had attempted to abduct a young woman in Williamstown. Cynthia L. Krizack, 17, of Williamstown, and Dawn Smith, 14, and Kim Benoit, 18, were found murdered between 1974 and 1976.
Morrison was living in Vermont and, in the early 1980s, was driving back and forth to Connecticut for work, according to Shugrue, he then joined the Navy before returning to Vermont around 1986.
"I also would like to remind everybody that Vermont and Massachusetts continue to work on unsolved cases, and we will continually work diligently to solve these cases," Shugrue said.
"We haven't ruled anybody out in these cases. So there are always possibilities that something's come up. So we will continue to investigate those. We're not stopping these cases."
He urged anyone with information on unsolved cases to contact police or prosecutors.
"In this particular case, it took three states, three governors, 2 1/2 years worth of work to get this to fruition," the DA said. "The fact that we were able to bring justice to these two families is incredible. There are cases out there to be solved. If you know something, please speak up."
Tags: kidnapping, murder,
