In the quiet college town of Amherst, Massachusetts, the life of 22-year-old David C. Sullivan, a promising University of Massachusetts student, was abruptly cut short. On the morning of November 30, 2004, his body was discovered inside his bedroom at his off-campus home on Meadow Street. Sullivan, a senior majoring in Building Materials and Wood Technology, was expected to graduate in the spring of 2005.
He had suffered multiple gunshot wounds from what investigators believed to be a rifle.
The investigation into the violent death of the male student quickly led authorities to a suspect. Bryan Johnston, a 23-year-old from Westfield, was arrested and charged with Sullivan's murder. Johnston and Sullivan were not strangers; they had been high school friends, both graduating from Wahconah Regional High School in 2000. Investigators learned that on the night of the murder, Johnston had called Sullivan to ask him to go out, but Sullivan declined. It is believed that Johnston then drove to Sullivan's apartment, entered unannounced, and shot him multiple times as he sat in his bedroom.
Following the shooting, Johnston's behavior was erratic. He reportedly drove his car off the road and was briefly detained by Hadley police, who did not notice any signs of the crime. He was later admitted to a hospital for undisclosed medical reasons, which is where he was formally arraigned for the murder of his childhood friend. During the investigation, it was revealed that Johnston had allegedly confessed the shooting to his parents. The motive for the killing remained a key question for investigators. At his trial, Johnston's defense claimed he was suffering from delusions related to paranoid schizophrenia at the time of the killing.
