Inset top: Brandon Morrissette (Oklahoma County District Attorney’s Office). Inset bottom: Robenie “RJ” Long (Asa Smith Funeral Service). Background: Rose State College (Rose State College/YouTube).
An Oklahoma husband has been found guilty of gunning down a man he believed was having an affair with his wife — despite his wife’s denials — on a college campus.
Brandon Morrissette, 32, was convicted by a jury of first-degree murder on Thursday for the shooting death of Robenie “RJ” Long in 2023, Oklahoma County District Attorney Vicki Behenna announced in a statement. The murder happened on the Rose State College campus in Midwest City; Morrissette confronted Long, 20, as he was walking out of a building with Morrissette’s wife, who was also a student at the school.
Morrissette apparently believed that Long was having an affair with his wife, Oklahoma City CBS affiliate KWTV reported. Investigators said Morrissette’s wife told police that Long was a classmate and friend.
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At his funeral in April 2023, friends and family remembered Long — who had served in the Marines since graduating from high school in 2021 — as a hero, local Fox affiliate KOKH reported.
“RJ courageously defended a fellow student at Rose State College, from a gunman,” a pastor who knew Long personally said at Long’s memorial service. “Before RJ died, he fought with superhuman determination without a thought for his own life.”
The pastor, David McBride, said that Long had previously saved a woman’s life after their car “careened” off the road and flipped over in a ditch.
“RJ gave no thought to his life and somehow got her unbuckled out of the seat belt, pulled her out of the water,” McBride said.
Long “passed away after sacrificing himself to save another,” his obituary said.
Morrissette faces a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The verdict came after jurors heard “evidence that Morrissette shot Long seven times outside the Humanities building on campus,” the statement said. “Long died at the scene. Morrissette was immediately taken into custody after the shooting.”
The trial began Monday, and jurors delivered their verdict just hours after starting deliberations on Thursday, KWTV noted. Jurors recommended that Morrissette serve a life sentence for the murder, KOKH also reported.
For Long’s mother, the verdict provided a degree of relief.
“I am so thankful for the jury that we had. I was just praying for them as they were leaving to go deliberate,” Kelly Long said, according to the DA’s office. “I think they made the right choices. I’m so thankful for our judicial system and thankful for our jurists.”
Morrissette’s attorneys signaled their intent to appeal, KWTV reported.
Morrissette was also convicted of possession of a firearm on school property, for which the DA recommended a sentence of one year. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 14.
In a separate case, Morrissette reportedly faces charges of possessing child sexual abuse material.
