Murder of Michelle Gardner-Quinn

Rooney's lawyer, David Sleigh argued that he should be acquitted outright because the State failed to prove that Gardner-Quinn's death occurred at the time of her rape, which is a requirement for the crime of aggravated murder with which he was charged. In February 2011, the Vermont Supreme Court ruled that Rooney's trial was carried out appropriately. As voted in a 3-2 decision, Rooney's sentence of life in prison without parole will stand.

On May 22, 2008, Brian Rooney was convicted of aggravated murder in Rutland, Vermont, by a 12-member jury. Rooney's guilt was based largely on the strength of DNA evidence taken from semen found inside Quinn's body, while his lawyer argued that "two nanograms of sperm" handled by a forensic lab with a history of sloppy work was not sufficient to convict.

On October 17, 2008, Rooney was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (under Vermont law, the only available sentence for aggravated murder). Judge Michael Kupersmith admonished him, stating that: "You are the lowest of the low." Rooney expressed condolences to Quinn's family but maintained he is innocent.

Cosmopolitan magazine featured Gardner-Quinn's story, "The Murder of a Beautiful Girl", in its February 2007 issue.

An essay she wrote (just days before her abduction) about her environmental beliefs was featured at Live Earth concerts in July 2007 and on an August 5 National Public Radio broadcast.

Michelle Gardner-Quinn (January 28, 1985 – October 2006) was an undergraduate at the University of Vermont who was kidnapped on October 7, 2006. Her body was later found along a road in the neighboring town of Richmond on October 13.

At a press conference on October 13, police announced that they had found Gardner-Quinn's body and arrested Brian L. Rooney (born June 27, 1970) on separate charges unrelated to the case. Rooney, a construction worker with several prior arrests, is facing charges from neighboring Caledonia County that pertain to sexual assault and lewd conduct with a child. Federal charges were filed against Rooney as of 1998. He had also been charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor in Essex County, about 80 miles east of Burlington, and with sexual assault on a minor and on an 18-year-old woman. Rooney is believed to have used an ether-soaked cloth to subdue and incapacitate the woman. A former girlfriend with whom he had a child has said that he threatened to kill her on numerous occasions. According to court documents, Rooney is believed to have three children with as many mothers.

The Vermont Department of Corrections houses a portion of their inmates in out-of-state institutions. Rooney is currently housed at the Lee Adjustment Center in Beattyville, Kentucky. His inmate identification number is 18539.