Defense attorneys for a Lisbon man accused of shooting his ex-wife to death in 2023 now want the court to order the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicles to provide data on how many trucks similar to the defendant’s truck are registered in the five-county area.

“This discovery is necessary to rebut any implication that the unidentified truck seen in video footage must be the defendant’s vehicle,” the motion said.

William P. Long Jr., 51, North Market Street, Lisbon, was charged in May 2024 with aggravated murder and murder, both unclassified felonies, along with first-degree felony discharging a firearm upon a roadway, and firearm specifications for use of a gun for each count, in the death of 50-year-old Michelle A. Long on Nov. 29, 2023 outside her Carey Road home in Butler Township. She was his ex-wife and a teacher at Leetonia High School.

His jury trial remains set for Feb. 3 and he remains jailed under a $1.5 million cash or surety bond.

Late Thursday afternoon, his defense team of David Betras and Frank Cassese filed the motion in Columbiana County Common Pleas Court requesting an order compelling the Ohio BMV to produce vehicle registration records.

The motion alleged that the state contends an unidentified pickup appears near the victim’s residence at 5:44 p.m. Nov. 29, 2023 and implies this vehicle may correspond to the defendant’s 2005 Chevy Silverado. Cassese wrote that none of the 14 video sources collected contain sufficient clarity, lighting or angle to identify the make, model or specific features of the truck. He also wrote that the defense expert concluded that no video can identify any particular truck as belonging to William P. Long Jr. nor place him at the Carey Road property at the time of the homicide.

“Because the footage is incapable of distinguishing vehicle type, the defense must obtain objective population data showing how many similar trucks exist in the area — demonstrating that the unidentified truck could have been any of hundreds of thousands of comparable vehicles. Only the BMV maintains reliable registration data needed to establish this fact,” Cassese wrote.

The motion requested non-identifying registration counts for the particular vehicles requested in Columbiana, Mahoning, Stark, Carroll and Jefferson counties. The list of vehicles includes: all types of Chevy Silverado 1999-2007; all types of GMC Sierra 1999-2007; extended cab and crew cab of Ford F-150 2001-2008; all types of Dodge Ram 1500/2500/3500 2002-2008; Toyota Tundra 2000-2006 extended cab and double cab; and Nissan Titan, 2004-2006. The request asked for any counts broken down by dark color categories (black, blue, gray, red), cab type (extended vs. crew) and 4×4 status. Only statistical totals are being requested, excluding names, addresses, VINS or any personal identifying information.

No decision has been made on the motion.

mgreier@mojonews.com