Murder of Zoe Sarnacki
Zoe Sarnacki, an 18-year-old resident of Portland, Maine, United States, was murdered by Chad Gurney, her 29-year-old boyfriend on May 25, 2009. During his trial, a judge rejected an insanity defense. In March 2011, Gurney was found guilty and sentenced to 50 years in prison for the murder and 10 years for arson.
Background
Zoe Sarnacki
Sarnacki was a former Deering High School student who worked at Bagel Works in Portland's Old Port district. She was interested in world religions, cultures and travel, and was described as having a vibrant, positive personality. She lived in South Portland at the time of her death.Chad Gurney
Gurney was a former Liberty University lacrosse player who suffered severe injuries in a van crash in Alabama in March 2005. The accident occurred when the lacrosse team's 15-passenger van was rear-ended by another school van and pushed into the path of a tractor-trailer. Gurney suffered a head injury and other injuries requiring 20 surgeries, and received a multimillion-dollar insurance settlement.The murder
Gurney and Sarnacki met at a tattoo shop in the Old Port in late March 2009. In May 2009, Gurney traveled to Vancouver, and upon his return, Sarnacki told him she had been intimate with another man while he was away. Gurney asked Sarnacki to quit her job and travel with him to Thailand, but she refused.On May 25, 2009, firefighters were called to a blaze at Gurney's Cumberland Avenue apartment, where they found Sarnacki's charred body. Her head had been severed, and several items including a crucifix had been placed on or around the body. Gurney told detectives he had strangled Sarnacki and cut off her head with a knife, then bought gasoline at a nearby station, poured it on the body and ignited it before driving to a motel in Old Orchard Beach, where he was arrested.
Trial
Gurney waived his right to a jury trial and appeared before Cumberland County Superior Court Justice Roland Cole. His defense argued he was not criminally responsible by reason of insanity, claiming his 2005 head injury and withdrawal from prescription medications caused a psychotic break.Prosecutors argued that Gurney was angry about Sarnacki's infidelity and her refusal to travel with him, and that he was planning an insanity defense within hours of the murder. On February 4, 2011, Justice Cole found Gurney guilty of murder and arson, ruling that while Gurney had personality disorders, he understood his actions were wrong.