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Northern Kentucky Man Found Guilty In 2012 Murder

Posted at 2:18 PM, Mar 13, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-13 14:18:45-04

FRANKFORT, Ky. (LEX 18)– A Northern Kentucky man has again been found guilty in a 2012 murder.

On Wednesday, a jury returned its verdict of guilty on the charges of murder and tampering with physical evidence against David Wayne Dooley, 45, of Burlington, according to Attorney General Andy Beshear’s office.

His retrial began on February 18, 2019. The jury deliberated for more than six hours before returning its guilty verdicts.

Throughout the retrial, Beshear’s office maintained that Dooley murdered Michelle Mockbee after she discovered he had been falsifying time cards and stealing from Thermo Fisher Scientific in Boone County, where Dooley worked as a janitor, and where Mockbee was the office manager in charge of payroll. The press release from Beshear’s office claims that the Commonwealth believes Mockbee may have surprised Dooley as he was breaking into her office on the morning she was murdered.

Dooley was first convicted of Mockbee’s murder in 2014.

In 2016, it was discovered that a video of an unknown man walking around the warehouse less than 12 hours before Mockbee was murdered and the complete personnel file of one of the lead detectives had not been provided in discovery by the original prosecutor.

Beshear’s office brought this to the attention of the trial judge, and after an approximately weeklong hearing, the trial court ruled that the conviction was to be vacated and the case set for retrial.

“Justice demands a fair trial process,” said Beshear. “Through this retrial, Mr. Dooley received a fair trial and was convicted. Justice has now been served.”

The jury is now hearing evidence regarding the appropriate penalty for Dooley.