BY DAN HORN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Dale Causey's nine-year run from justice ended with applause and tears Friday when a jury declared him guilty of murder.
It took jurors only about three hours to convict Mr. Causey of robbing and shooting Anthony Scott during an Avondale drug deal in 1989.
As the verdict was read, more than a dozen of Mr. Scott's relatives pumped their fists and cheered.
"We waited nine years for this," said Cindy Stephens, Mr. Scott's aunt. "We got justice."
Mr. Causey, with his head down and his hands folded, showed little emotion as the victim's relatives celebrated just a few feet away in the courtroom.
The verdict is the final chapter in a story that began in September 1989 when Mr. Scott was found shot to death in a parking lot. Prosecutors say he was part of a drug deal that turned violent when Mr. Causey pulled out a gun and fired a shot into his chest.
During the trial this week, a witness told jurors that she saw Mr. Causey push Mr. Scott out of a car that night.
Authorities have said Mr. Causey was a suspect from the beginning, but police were unable to locate him. One of the last tips they received was that he was in Indiana raising Rottweilers.
The big break in the case came earlier this year when a call to Crime Stoppers in Cleveland led police to a house in Columbus, where Mr. Causey was found in the back yard, feeding Rottweilers.
After his arrest, prosecutors said, Mr. Causey told a police officer: "You got me arrested, but you don't have me in court yet. And you got no witnesses."
Assistant prosecutor Richard Gibson said the verdict is a relief to the investigators who pursued the case for nearly a decade.
"I'm glad the Cincinnati Police and the FBI kept after this guy," he said. "They didn't let him get away with this."
Mr. Causey will face 30 years to life in prison when he returns to court Nov. 13 for sentencing before Common Pleas Judge David Davis.
