Laura Sheridan’s account and a renewed indictment helped secure admissions in a 1981 abduction and the 1986 killing of Sarah Hunter.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A survivor’s return to the witness stand and an anonymous tip led to guilty pleas that closed two New England cold cases, prosecutors said Wednesday. David Allen Morrison admitted Tuesday to kidnapping a Berkshire County teenager in 1981 and to murdering Vermont golf professional Sarah Hunter in 1986.
The outcome caps decades of stops and starts. Bennington County State’s Attorney Erica Marthage and Berkshire County District Attorney Timothy Shugrue said Sheridan’s grand jury testimony revived the Massachusetts case and helped leverage a broader resolution. Morrison received a life sentence without parole in Vermont and a two-to-four-year sentence in Massachusetts. Authorities said the Vermont term will run with his existing time and that he has been moved to state custody in Springfield.
Sheridan was 15 on June 23, 1981, when she accepted a ride that turned violent on Route 7 in New Ashford. After a struggle inside the car, she escaped at a rest area and flagged help. Morrison was tried that year for assault-related charges and acquitted, leaving the abduction uncharged. Shugrue said his office recently received a tip alleging Morrison’s involvement in assaults in the Berkshires and in violent crimes in Vermont. That prompted prosecutors to seek a kidnapping indictment, aided by Massachusetts law that stops the clock on certain charges when a suspect leaves the state.
In Vermont, Hunter was reported missing on Sept. 9, 1986, after she did not arrive for work at Manchester Country Club, where she was head professional. Her body was found on Nov. 27, 1986, in a wooded area in Pawlet. Marthage said Morrison drew attention early in the inquiry. Her office later pursued DNA testing of preserved items, which pointed to him. Charges filed years ago were dismissed after chain-of-custody problems emerged, and the case went cold again until the latest push and Morrison’s decision to speak with investigators.
On Tuesday morning in Berkshire Superior Court, Morrison pleaded guilty to kidnapping Sheridan. Later in Bennington County Superior Court, he admitted to killing Hunter and received life without the possibility of parole. Prosecutors said a retired Vermont State Police investigator who had maintained contact with Morrison returned to conduct an interview when he indicated he might talk. Morrison had family ties in the region and preferred to serve in Vermont, a factor that aided plea discussions, authorities said.
Shugrue called the fresh indictment the turning point. “He wouldn’t have said anything unless we brought that indictment,” he said. Marthage said the resolution offers “a modicum of closure” to Manchester, a town that has marked Hunter’s memory for years. Sheridan, speaking briefly, said, “I’m really lucky,” and thanked investigators who kept calling despite the long passage of time. Officials from Vermont, Massachusetts and Connecticut credited cooperation across borders and sustained file reviews for the final outcome.
Morrison, 65, had been serving a life term with a possibility of parole in California for crimes that included kidnapping with a firearm, sexual assault and robbery in a separate 1988 case. With Tuesday’s pleas, Vermont corrections listed him in state custody at Southern State Correctional Facility in Springfield. Court clerks in both states said certified transcripts and sentencing documents from this week’s hearings will be filed and made public in the coming days, closing the active dockets.
Prosecutors said both the Hunter homicide and the Sheridan kidnapping cases are resolved. They plan to provide a written, plain-language summary of the joint investigation and hold a combined meeting with families next week to address remaining questions about evidence handling and the timeline. Officials said any new tips referring to related conduct would be logged into existing files and assessed under routine review procedures.
Author note: Last updated December 12, 2025.