Debbie Capiola's killer was convicted of first-degree murder Monday -- 28 years after he snatched her off a Findlay street and strangled her. David R. Kennedy, 50, of Cecil, Washington County, was sentenced to life in prison without parole for strangling Capiola, 17, with her own jeans on St. Patrick's Day in 1977. Police never had enough evidence to convict Kennedy until DNA testing linked him to a sperm stain found on the jeans wrapped around Capiola's neck when her body was discovered in a strip mine four miles from her home. As the jury read the verdict before Allegheny County Common Pleas Judge Lawrence O'Toole, Capiola's family yelled for joy while Kennedy stared down at the table. "Finally," said Capiola's brother, August Capiola. "It's been hard, but finally..." Assistant District Attorney Mark Tranquilli told the jury that Kennedy, then 22, had been stalking Capiola, who usually walked to the bus stop with her brother. On the day of her disappearance, her brother stayed home sick. "(Kennedy) was waiting for the day Debbie's brother was sick. This was not a random incident," Tranquilli told the jury in closing arguments, as Capiola's family wept behind him. "And when that happened, he struck like a cobra." Several witnesses testified that a car similar to Kennedy's maroon Oldsmobile Cutlass had been cruising near the bus stop that morning. Capiola's mother, Kathleen Juip, testified she found her daughter's school books and nursing smock in the road a few minutes after 8 a.m. Kennedy, then a laborer at a nearby builders supply store, showed up 27 minutes late to work that day, which was unusual for him, said former friend and co-worker Robert Stoner. Defense attorney William Manifesto, however, said there was not enough time for Kennedy to abduct the girl, drive to the strip mine and strangle her, and then get to work. "David Kennedy could not have committed this crime. The driving time alone discredits the commonwealth's timeline," Manifesto told the jury. "It would be impossible." Neither Manifesto nor Kennedy commented after the verdict. Police arrested Kennedy in December 2000 after comparing DNA in his blood to the semen stain. Kennedy has been in jail ever since on a single charge of homicide for the killing of the shy, blond West Allegheny High School junior. "The circumstantial evidence played a big part, but the DNA put it over the top," Tranquilli said. "It's been 28 1/2 years in coming. The police suspected him since day one, but there wasn't enough hard evidence then. But as technology caught up, the state police sent the jeans to be tested."

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