Utah man who killed Sherry Black will spend the rest of his life in prison
Feb 23, 2022, 2:47 PM | Updated: Feb 9, 2023, 12:35 pm
SALT LAKE CITY — Adam Durborow will spend the rest of his life in prison, without the possibility of parole, for the murder of Sherry Black in 2010.
Durborow pleaded guilty in October last year, in Third District Court to aggravated murder in the killing of the South Salt Lake bookstore owner. She was found beaten and stabbed to death in 2010 in B&W Billiards & Books, then located on 3466 S. 700 East.
The man charged in the 2010 murder and rape of Sherry Black has been sentenced to life in prison without parole. Salt Lake County DA Sim Gill called it “imperfect justice,” for the Black and Miller families. #SherryBlack #justiceforSherry @SimGillDAhttps://t.co/LfgtIqelxY
— KSL NewsRadio (@kslnewsradio) February 23, 2022
“This was not only a crime against a family, but also our community. Today a measure of justice was found. It is imperfect but the best our system can do,” Salt Lake County District Attorney Sim Gill said. “Our prayers are with the Black and Miller families. Justice would be that they never had to suffer the loss of a loved one to begin with.”
Durborow’s arrest was nearly ten year after Black, a beloved wife, mother and grandmother was killed in her independent book store. He was 19 at the time of the killing and had been convicted of theft weeks before her death. He was taken into custody from Orem, Utah.
Black’s family released a statement after the sentencing, thanking the DA, court and other law enforcement agencies.
“While this sentence delivers a sense of justice, no punishment imposed can heal the pain or fill the void created by Durborow when he chose to take the life of our beloved Sherry,” the statement from Black’s family read. “Although he took her life, he could not take her soul, which lives on and is part of the love, beauty kindness and talents that her husband, daughter, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will carry forward.”
The statement released from Earl Black and the Greg and Heidi Miller family also thanked victim services program, the efforts of Unified Police Department for its investigative efforts, along with other police agencies. The statement called Durborow dangerous and said the community is safer with him behind bars where he no longer poses a threat to innocent victims. The entire statement is included at the end of this story.
KSL has uncovered multiple ties between suspect Adam Durborow and his family to the neighborhood in which Sherry Black lived, worked and ultimately died.
https://t.co/LWDTvrFHeB @ashergrey
— KSL 5 TV (@KSL5TV) October 13, 2020
“Unified Police Department and the Salt Lake County Sheriff’s Office are thinking of the Black and Miller families today. In collaboration with other agencies, our officers worked tirelessly to investigate this case and we are pleased to see a measure of justice be served in court this morning,” Salt Lake County Sheriff Rosie Rivera said.
Investigators found fingerprints and palm prints at the murder scene but didn’t have a match for them. Durborow had was in juvenile detention shortly before the killing, possibly explaining why matches were so difficult to find.
South Salt Lake Police Department conducted a homicide investigation, but it eventually went cold after they found no evidence of robbery or motive. UPD’s Cold Case Unit joined the investigation in 2013 and later became the lead investigating agency in 2018.
The two agencies worked together to review the evidence and conduct further investigations. There were very few leads, but detectives said the suspect left behind his blood marks and an Armani belt, which at one time was considered a key piece of evidence.
On Oct. 7, 2020, DNA was collected from Durborow, according to the probable cause statement.
Police hope #phenotyping will crack Sherry Black murder case #KSLAM https://t.co/xkZDM4jpWd pic.twitter.com/fTozQKnsRe
— KSL_Photography (@KSL_Photography) December 1, 2017
It was submitted to the Utah Bureau of Forensic Services and later confirmed as a match to the DNA collected from the crime scene.
In 2010, Durborow was convicted and sentenced to 60 days in jail but the sentence was suspended and he was put on probation with a $400 fine. Black was killed during the time he would have spent in jail.
The full statement from the family of Sherry Black after sentencing:
Black & Miller family statement after Adam Durborow sentencing by LarryDCurtis on Scribd
