Verdict in deputy killings case: Guilty

Abdiyyah ben Alkebulanyahh stood stone faced, hands clasped behind his back and chin tilted upward, as a jury pronounced him guilty Monday of killing two Beaufort County sheriff’s deputies in a Burton mobile home nearly 21 months ago.

Sobs and a soft gasp echoed through the packed courtroom as Alkebulanyahh, 41, fixed his eyes on the eight women and four men who stood one by one to affirm their unanimous decision. The defendant, formerly known as Tyree Roberts, was accused of shooting to death Lance Cpl. Dana Lyle Tate and Cpl. Dyke “A.J.” Coursen on Jan. 8, 2002, after the deputies responded to a 911 call at the 21 Riley Road home where he was living.

The jury will consider sentencing Alkebulanyahh to death during the second phase of the trial that begins at 11:30 this morning. It is unclear whether the defendant will represent himself during sentencing, as he has for 11 straight days since the trial began Oct. 10, or allow his court-appointed attorneys to take over.

On Saturday, Alkebulanyahh took the stand for an hour, facing a tense cross-examination by Solicitor Randolph Murdaugh, who confronted the defendant with a mass of incriminating evidence, including eyewitnesses placing him in the room when the deputies were shot and his fingerprint on a magazine from the assault rifle used in the shootings.

Members of Tate and Coursen’s families were in the courtroom Monday as the jury heard a recording of Alkebulanyahh’s testimony from Saturday. At one point during Murdaugh’s cross-examination, the defendant had referred to the rifle used to kill Tate and Coursen as “my gun,” a point Murdaugh seized on in his closing argument.

After deliberating for four hours into early Sunday evening, the jury requested to hear the entire recording of Alkebulanyahh’s testimony and Murdaugh’s cross-examination. Reconvening at 10:05 a.m. Monday, the jurors continued deliberating until they filed back into the silent courtroom at about 11:20 a.m.

For several minutes before the verdict was read, Cpl. Coursen’s wife, D.J. Coursen, sat with her eyes closed, clutching the hand of her daughter Monique Ruiz, Cpl. Coursen’s stepdaughter. When she heard the jury’s decision, D.J. Coursen broke into tears. Lance Cpl. Tate’s wife, Marie Tate, also was in the courtroom as the verdict was read.

Both victims’ families thanked the community for their support, but Coursen expressed frustration at the leeway given to the man she always believed was guilty.

“The thing that got me the most,” Coursen said outside the courthouse Monday, “was he walked around that courtroom as free as a bird, and he just pranced.”

Throughout the trial, Coursen and Alkebulanyahh would frequently lock eyes for several moments, she said, but she was never the first to turn away.

“I am my husband’s eyes,” she said. “He shot out my husband’s eyes.”

Referring to the possibility of a death sentence for Alkebulanyahh, D.J. Coursen said, “I want to make sure he sees my eyes — the very last thing he sees.

“My husband was awesome. He was just the most amazing person I ever met,” she continued. “I needed him here with me through this, the one person I needed the most.”

When sentencing ends, Coursen said she will fight to change laws pertaining to assault rifles used in crimes and to help other victims. “The fight is just beginning,” she said.

Solicitor Murdaugh said he expects to call 21 people to testify during the trial’s sentencing phase, when victims’ families can tell jurors about the crime’s effect on their lives. D.J. Coursen said she will take the stand, as will Lance Cpl. Tate’s mother, Thelma Lorraine Tate.

“I’m still saddened at the loss of my brother,” said Steven Tate, who traveled from Columbus, Ohio, for the trial. “We’d always been close. ... They’ve taken the light away from this family.”

Tate said he will accept the jury’s sentencing decision, which can be life in prison without parole or death. “It does not affect me if they give a life sentence,” he said.

“He showed no concern or true remorse for what has been done here,” Tate continued. “I forgive him. I have to, I’m a Christian. But he surely has to pay a price for what he has done.”

Tate said he was told Alkebulanyahh will not represent himself in the penalty phase. “His defense attorneys will be taking over from here,” he said he was told.

After the verdict, Murdaugh said he believed “justice has been done.”

“The families will have some kind of closure now and they will be able to rest easy,” he said.

Beaufort County Sheriff P.J. Tanner, who was called to the stand to face questions from Alkebulanyahh during the trial, said the system had worked.

“The sword of justice cut a clear path to the truth,” Tanner said. “And the Solicitor’s Office did a good job of wielding that sword. Are we happy? Yes. Do we still have work to do? Yes.”

This story was originally published October 21, 2003 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Verdict in deputy killings case: Guilty."