LISBON (WKBN) – A Columbiana County jury reached a verdict Monday in the murder trial of William Long, Jr.

Long was found guilty on all counts in the 2023 shooting death of his estranged wife, Michelle. Police said he shot her in the driveway of the Butler Township home the couple once shared.

Long was charged with aggravated murder, murder, and discharge of a firearm on or near a prohibited premises, all with a firearm specification.

The victim’s mother addressed the court after the verdict. Long did not want to speak prior to sentencing, and his attorneys indicated that they would appeal.

During testimony last week, the lead investigator in the murder discovered that there was potentially incriminating evidence of the anger William had for Michelle more than a year before she was killed, as Columbiana County prosecutors played a cell phone video Michelle herself recorded.

Voice of defendant William Long on recording: “You disappeared on our wedding anniversary. You deserve your (expletive) kicked.”

Chief Deputy Caleb Wycoff testified that Long quickly became a person of interest in the case soon after Michelle was found shot to death. Investigators discovered Long had been ordered to pay tens of thousands of dollars as part of a divorce judgment issued just a day before the murder.