Parents guilty of murder in Randal Dooley's death

Friends and family of seven-year-old Randal Dooley rejoiced Thursday when his father and stepmother were found guilty of his murder.

Tony Dooley and his wife Marcia were found guilty of second-degree murder in the boy's September 1998 death.

The jury took three days to convict the couple, who sat impassively while awaiting the verdict.

A crowd outside the Toronto courthouse, where the trial began in January, broke into cheers and applause when they heard the verdict early Thursday evening.

Randal had extensive internal and external injuries at the time of his death, including a lacerated liver, broken ribs and a tooth in his stomach. His father had beaten him with a belt until it ripped.

Defence lawyers admitted the couple abused the boy, but said that did not make them murderers. Marcia Dooley's lawyer asked the jury to convict her of manslaughter.

The jury disagreed.

Randal, then six, and his brother Tego came from Jamaica to live with their father and Marcia Dooley, their stepmother, in November 1997.

Randal's Grade 1 teacher, Gloria Robson, noticed marks on him in January 1998. That month, he was taken to hospital with a broken arm. And in April, the teacher found whip marks on the boy.

Police investigated, but no charges were laid.

After the verdict, Robson wept in relief. "I feel very saddened for all of you who did not know him because what sustains me and heals my wounds are my memories of beautiful Randal."

Crown attorney Rita Zaied was cheered as she left the courthouse.

She said the jury chose murder over manslaughter because the bodily harm inflicted by the Dooleys was intentional, and likely to cause death. "You take a child, you beat a child over several months. It's no longer considered manslaughter, it may very well be considered that you intentionally killed your child."

Sentencing is set for May 3. The penalty for second degree murder is a life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.