Acting Essex County Prosecutor Robert D. Laurino today announced that an Essex County Grand Jury returned a six count indictment against Dale Cheatham, 53, of Newark for the Oct 22, 2009 murder of Deborah Long, 55, of East Orange.
Cheatham, who had a longstanding relationship with Long, allegedly slit her throat with a razor box cutter during a dispute over money. He then allegedly fled the scene in her 2004 Ford Taurus and was later apprehended in West Virginia.
Cheatham is charged with murder, felony murder, robbery, theft and two weapons offenses.
Prosecutor Laurino credited Detective Phillip Gregory of the Essex County Prosecutor’s Homicide Squad, along with detectives from the East Orange Police Department, with the investigation.
These criminal charges are mere accusation. The defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
