Suspect Brian Rooney in Murdered Michelle Gardner-Quinn case Due in Court on Separate Sex Charge
Brian Rooney, a suspect in the disappearance and murder of UVM senior Michelle Gargner-Quinn will be in court today for a separate sex offense. This sexual offense charge dates back to 1998 and revolves around a sexual assault on a minor. One question that immediately comes to the forefront is why only now is Brian Rooney being arraigned on the 1998 sex offense charge against a minor? Looking back on events, maybe our society might have been a little more safer if Brian Rooney had either been in jail or had to have registered as a sex offender.
(Suspect: Brian Rooney)
Authorities may want to explain why Brian Rooney was allowed to walk among us when he was considered a danger. They just forgot about him. How many times will these things happen when a sex offender is only deemed a danger after they kill? Who does not think that the “sexual assault on, and lewd and lascivious conduct with, a minor” was just not a precursor of offenses to come?
Thirty-six-year-old Brian Rooney was the last person seen with 21-year-old Michelle Gardner-Quinn before she disappeared on October seventh. Surveillance camera footage from a jewelry store shows them walking down a Burlington street. Gardner-Quinn was found dead in a ravine on October 13th.
Rooney is scheduled to be arraigned in St. Johnsbury on charges of sexual assault on a minor. He also is charged with lewd and lascivious conduct with a minor. (Fox 21)
Brian Rooney, 36, will be arraigned today from an incident from Essex County, VT where he was charged with a sexual assault on, and lewd and lascivious conduct with, a minor.
Both charges, stemming from a 1988 incident in Essex County, were brought as a result of information that came to light as cops probed him about Michelle Gardner-Quinn’s disappearance. (NY Post)
The police continue to pursue leads that point to Brian Rooney being the primary suspect in the murder of Michelle Gardner-Quinn. Rooney was the last person seen with Michelle the last night she was seen alive. Garner-Quinn also used Rooney’s cell phone the night she disappeared.
Burlington Police continue to build a case against Brian Rooney in the homicide investigation of 21-year old Michelle Gardner Quinn. A call that the victim made on Rooney’s cell phone led police to the 36-year old construction worker. Rooney was the last person seen with Gardner-Quinn before she disappeared early Saturday morning a week ago. When hikers discovered her body at Huntington Gorge yesterday, police made the arrest, and as Burlington police chief Tom Tremblay phrased it, now it’s as if a whole new investigation has started. Police on Saturday said they are in no position to release any information of significance. They still need the public’s help. (WCAX)
Brian Rooney has been a “person of interest” and suspect from the outset, closely being watched by authorities.
… but investigators still need to know more about the hours right after he was caught on a security camera, walking up Main Street with the victim shortly after 2:30 a.m. Saturday morning. “Our investigation continues to focus on Brian Rooney’s actions and whereabouts during the time period from Saturday, October 7th at 2:30 a.m. to mid-morning Monday, October 9th. We are also interested in information regarding the red Jeep Grand Cherokee,” said Stubbing.
Police impounded the Jeep they say Rooney drove, but they say there is no evidence that would indicate the victim was ever in it. Still, police want to know where the vehicle was during the week. They also want to know where Rooney was.