He may not have pulled the trigger, but a jury determined a St. Paul man was guilty in the fatal shootings of two men at a Midway-area motel this past spring.
Ronald Lee Conway was found guilty of one count of aiding and abetting intentional second-degree murder and one count of aiding and abetting second-degree murder while committing a felony in the deaths of 30-year-old Nicholas Bennett Tousley and 23-year-old Dominique Charles Moss.
The fatal shootings took place March 22 after a dispute over drugs and money.
A member of the Ramsey County District Court jury read the verdicts about 8:30 p.m. Monday after the panel deliberated the case for several hours.
Conway, 31, was found not guilty of the most egregious charge during the week-long trial — aiding and abetting premeditated first-degree murder.
In opening arguments in the case, prosecutors described Conway as an “enraged” drug dealer who was wronged and wanted his money back when he showed up at the motel on Snelling Avenue in a vehicle with a crew of others.
Before they arrived, Conway instructed the driver, Eric John Benner, to pick up someone he referred to as “the shooter,” prosecutors said.
That man, Cass Cordel O’Neal, pleaded guilty in August to two counts of aiding and abetting intentional second-degree murder for firing the shots that fatally struck the two men.
Benner also was culpable in the crime. He pleaded guilty in July to two counts of aiding and abetting unintentional second-degree murder.
The incident took place the day after Conway discovered Tousley had made off with his methamphetamines without leaving behind money. Tousley and Benner had agreed to help Conway sell the drugs. Instead, Conway reportedly believed Tousley stole them.
Becoming angry, prosecutors said Conway organized a group to confront Tousley at the Midway Motel. Benner, an addict, was forced into the showdown and ultimately used as a decoy to get the occupants of the motel room to open the door, prosecutors said.
Members of the group, including Conway and O’Neal, hid outside the motel door as Benner tried to get someone inside to open it.
Tousley had been staying at the motel along with Moss and a few others.
Moss, who had not been a part of the drug deal the previous day, was returning to the room when he saw the men huddled outside it. Shortly after, shots were fired. Moss was struck in the back and died in the parking lot. Tousley was also shot in the back. He ran toward Snelling Avenue and onto the ramp from Pierce Butler Road before collapsing and dying.
While not the shooter, prosecutors said Conway was the mastermind behind the plan that led to the men’s deaths.
“He was looking for Nicholas Tousley, that was who he wanted, and he was willing to kill anyone who got in his way,” Assistant Ramsey County Attorney Jan Barker said.
“But for Ronald Conway, no one would have been killed,” she added.
After the men were gunned down and Conway and his crew were back in the car, he reportedly turned to O’Neal and said, “I told you not to shoot until I got my money,” Barker said.
Conway’s defense was built on the premise that Conway should not be held responsible for the “unpredictable actions” of someone else, namely O’Neal.
Defense attorney Corey Sherman added that the state’s case largely rested on faulty testimony provided by O’Neal and Benner. Both had a vested interest in the outcome of the case, she told the jurors.
Moss, a Como Park Senior High graduate, left behind a twin brother, two younger brothers and two sisters. He attended the University of Wisconsin-River Falls for a year after his high school graduation before returning to St. Paul and eventually becoming a security guard.
His mother, Nadine Moss, attended the trial with some of her children. She said the experience “was horrible.”
“I (saw) pictures of my son laying there dead. My daughter (saw) those pictures. … We seen blood … pictures from the medical examiner,” she said. “I go to sleep at night and I still see those pictures.”
She added that she’s angry that Conway escaped conviction for premeditated first-degree murder and said she’s hopeful he’ll still get a long sentence.
“It’s not fair for them to take away two lives and then get to go back on the streets,” she said. “(Dominique) was a good son. He … was working as a security guard and trying to get his life together. He helped a lot of people. He had a good heart and he is gone too soon.”
Tousley, who was known as Nick, grew up in Indian Rocks Beach, Fla. He loved sports and played several at a private Christian school there. After high school, he graduated from a technical institute and became an auto mechanic and later a truck driver.
He had a daughter, Scarlette, in 2014.
Tousley’s former girlfriend and Scarlette’s mom, Kathryn Sutton, said that it was too painful to follow the trial but that she was glad it ended in a conviction for Conway.
“Our daughter will never get her dad back or ever know her dad because of something so senseless,” Sutton had. “But she has me and she has her family and she will have our memories.”
Sutton said she had known Tousley since he was a teenager. The 6-foot-5 man was shy and soft-spoken, she recalled.
“Because of his stature, people thought he was intimidating, but he was always the sweetest guy with the biggest heart and just goofy,” Sutton said. “I miss him a lot, especially how he was with Scarlette. They were so great together. … I am glad I still have those memories.”
Conway will be sentenced Feb. 8. The jury found that aggravating factors were involved in the shooting, which could lead to a longer prison sentence for him.