Ligonier podiatrist Karl Long was escorted from a Westmoreland County courtroom in handcuffs Wednesday afternoon after a jury convicted him of third-degree murder. Long showed no emotion as the jury of eight women and four men returned with its finding that he killed his estranged wife on Oct. 3, 1999. The jury deliberated for more than 11 1/2 hours over two days. By virtue of its verdict, the jury found Long, 44, killed his wife with cruelty but that he had no specific intent to commit the murder. Prosecutors had asked for a first-degree murder conviction, arguing that Long planned his wife’s death as a way to end his troubled marriage of nearly 18 years. Long’s defense contended he accidentally killed his 40-year-old wife and acted in self-defense after she attacked him with a knife in a bedroom of the family’s quaint two-story brick home in Ligonier Borough. Yesterday’s verdict came as a relief to Elaine Long’s family members, who for four years have waited for the case to come to trial and for the man accused of the murder to go to prison. “We pray Karl Long sees my sister’s face every time he closes his eyes,” said Elaine Long’s sister, Karen Harouse-Bell. Harouse-Bell and her husband are raising the Longs’ two children, 13-year-old Kreighton and 9-year-old Klaudia. Karl Long’s family quickly left the courthouse without comment. Evan Pattak, the Long family spokesman, described the verdict as a disappointment. “We’re all stunned. The evidence pointed strongly toward acquittal,” Pattak said. Defense attorneys Caroline Roberto and Bill McCabe argued throughout the trial that Long should be found not guilty and that his wife initiated the fatal confrontation when she plunged a knife into his chest. Roberto yesterday said the defense would appeal the verdict. “We feel this is a tragedy for both families. We will spend time reviewing the record and attempt to discover what basis the jury used in reaching its verdict. The commonwealth did not prove how Elaine Long died,” Roberto said. Long will be sentenced within three months by Judge William J. Ober. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 to 40 years in prison. District Attorney John Peck said the standard sentence for first-time offenders convicted of third-degree murder is six to 20 years. Had Long been convicted of first-degree murder he would have faced a mandatory sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The verdict was met with gasps from the overflow crowd that jammed the county’s ceremonial courtroom. For 13 days nearly all of the more than 90 seats in the courtroom were filled with relatives and friends of both Long and his wife. Long had been free on bail since November 2000 and was allowed to see patients at his Greensburg area podiatry office. After the verdict was read yesterday afternoon, Ober revoked Long’s bail and ordered him to await the sentencing hearing in jail. Long had spent about 13 months in jail after his arrest. Peck said he did not consider yesterday’s verdict a victory. “It’s a very sad case. There are now two children who lost their mother forever and now apparently have lost their father for a good period of time,” Peck said. The trial started Aug. 4 and featured 40 witnesses and more than 150 pieces of evidence, including plastic dry-cleaning bags the prosecution contended Long used to suffocate his wife. Prosecutors said Karl Long, who filed for divorce five days before his wife died, had a financial motive for the killing. Trial evidence revealed Elaine Long emptied the family’s bank accounts of $41,000 a day after her husband asked for the divorce. Peck said he also wanted to tell jurors that Karl Long’s income had dipped the three previous years and that he stood to collect on a $500,000 insurance policy on his wife. Ober ruled jurors could not hear evidence about the insurance policy. The prosecution contended that Elaine Long was suffocated by her husband and that he either held her head down into a bedsheet or covered her face with a plastic bag. Peck said Long stabbed himself as part of an effort to stage the crime scene to support his self-defense story. Long testified in his own defense over two days last week and told jurors that he accidentally killed his wife while fending off her knife attack. Long said his wife came into his bedroom and stabbed him in the chest with a knife. They then wrestled on the bed, and Long grabbed her around her neck and threw her to the bed. Long testified he fell and passed out on top of his wife while she lay face down on the bed. The defense also contended Elaine Long, who had a history of fainting, also lost consciousness, which prevented her from extracting herself from under her husband, who was more than twice her size. Elaine Long’s manner of death was disputed during the trial. The defense argued she died from a combination of having her chest compressed by the bulk of her husband and from suffocation. The defense also presented a series of witnesses who described Elaine Long as violent, angry woman who was mentally unstable. They also said Karl Long was physically and emotionally abused by his wife. Karl Long was portrayed as a put-upon husband who believed he was cuckolded and forced to endure years of constant berating by his wife. Timeline of events in Dr. Karl Long murder case Sept. 29, 1999 — Karl Long files for divorce from wife Elaine after nearly 18 years of marriage. Oct. 3, 1999 — Elaine Long found dead in the couple’s home with plastic dry-cleaning bag on face. Oct. 4, 1999 — Karl Long arrested and charged with first-degree murder and jailed without bond. January 2000 — Long asks for second autopsy of wife. March 2000 — Westmoreland County Judge William J. Ober grants motion allowing for second autopsy. June 2000 — Long claims in court documents he acted in self-defense and wife had a violent temper. September 2000 — Internationally renowned criminalist Dr. Henry Lee hired by Long for his defense. November 2000 — Ober sets bond at $200,000 and Long is freed after family posts property as collateral. March 2001 — Prosecutors probe the Longs’ financial records looking for motive. October 2001 — Ober rules search warrant illegal and excludes all physical evidence, including dry-cleaning bags, inadmissible at trial; prosecution appeals. February 2002 — Pennsylvania Superior Court overturns Ober ruling and rules seized evidence admissible at trial; defense appeals. July 2002 — Pennsylvania Supreme Court refuses to hear prosecution appeal of bail, allows Long to stay free until trial. March 2003 — Supreme Court upholds Superior Court ruling that says evidence seized by police is admissible at trial. July 28, 2003 — Jury selection starts. Aug 4, 2003 — Testimony in trial begins. Aug. 11, 2003 — Prosecution rests. Aug. 14-15, 2003 — Long testifies. Aug. 18, 2003 — Defense rests. Aug. 19, 2003 — Jury deliberates six hours without verdict. Aug. 20, 2003 — Long found guilty of third-degree murder; taken to prison to await sentencing.

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