Bio

Brian L. Rooney was born on June 27, 1970. As a young man, Rooney worked in construction. He became known as a former construction worker later in life.

In 1998, Rooney faced federal charges for lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. This incident occurred in Essex County, Vermont, which is about 80 miles east of Burlington. He also had charges related to sexual assault on a minor and an 18-year-old woman. These legal issues added to his troubled background.

Rooney is believed to have had three children with three different mothers. He had a former girlfriend who stated that he made threats to kill her on multiple occasions. This was part of the information that emerged about him before his later crimes.

His life took a serious turn when he became involved in the murder of Michelle Gardner-Quinn on October 7, 2006. 

Murder Story

On October 7, 2006, Brian L. Rooney was involved in the abduction of Michelle Gardner-Quinn, a 21-year-old college student. Security footage shows them walking together in Burlington, Vermont, around 2:34 AM. Gardner-Quinn had borrowed Rooney's cell phone to contact friends. He was the last known person to see her alive.

Gardner-Quinn’s body was discovered on October 13, 2006, at the Huntington Gorge in Richmond. She was partially clothed and hidden in a rock crevice, covered with leaves. An autopsy determined that she had been sexually assaulted, and the cause of death was ruled as strangulation and blunt force trauma to the head.

On October 25, 2006, Rooney was arrested after DNA evidence linked him to the crime scene. The evidence included semen found in Gardner-Quinn’s body. During the trial, his defense suggested that the amount of DNA found was too small to convict him and questioned the reliability of the evidence.

On May 22, 2008, Rooney was found guilty of murder. He was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on October 17, 2008. Following the conviction, Rooney claimed he was innocent and sought a new trial. He argued that the judge provided improper instructions to the jury and that some evidence was misleading.

Rooney's appeals were unsuccessful. In February 2011, the Vermont Supreme Court upheld the original trial verdict, deciding that the trial was handled properly. He is currently serving his sentence at the Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Kentucky.