By SANDY McGEE

PROVIDENCE — A former Woonsocket man was found guilty of first-degree murder on Wednesday for the 2006 shooting death of a Pawtucket woman.

Barry Offley, 20, of Woonsocket and Providence, was found guilty of killing Jessica C. Imran, 24, who was shot to death in July 2006 in her Pawtucket home.

A 12-member jury deliberated for only an hour before returning with a guilty verdict Wednesday afternoon in Superior Court, Providence.

Offley was found guilty on all eight charges, including one count of first-degree murder; two counts, conspiracy to commit murder; one count, conspiracy to commit burglary; one count, assault with a dangerous weapon in a dwelling house with the intent to commit murder; and one count of burglary.

He was also found guilty on one count of carrying a pistol without a license; one count of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, death resulting; and one count of discharging a firearm while committing a crime of violence, injury resulting.

The homicide occurred on July 27, 2006, when Offley and his then 28-year-old uncle, Alonzo P. Shelton of Central Falls, forced their way into Imran's apartment around 4 a.m. on Lawn Avenue in Pawtucket.

Prosecutors claim Imran's roommate, Julie Lang, who was at the apartment at the time of the shooting, was the intended target. Lang, 28, was left for dead but managed to survive being shot four times.

Lang testified last week that Offley shot Imran and attempted to shoot her next, but the bullets missed, twice. Shelton, according to Lang, allegedly took the gun from Offley, reloaded it and shot her.

Both the defense and state prosecutors delivered their closing arguments to the jury and presiding judge, Associate Justice Robert D. Krause, only hours before the verdict Wednesday.

Offley, who wore a blue dress shirt and black pants, kept his head down as his lawyer, Terence Livingston, delivered the closing arguments.

Livingston said Offley's uncle, Shelton, was the lone shooter. In May, a jury found Shelton guilty of the same charges as his nephew, including the murder of Imran.

He was sentenced last summer to serve 72 years, including two consecutive life terms and a remaining 17 years for a previous conviction.

Offley's defense attorney said the two women invited the men to the Pawtucket house in July 2006 "to party."

"They were invited over to have fun," Livingston said. "His uncle duped him, and probably popped him some Ecstasy."

The prosecution's arguments, delivered by Assistant Attorney General Stacey Veroni, differed dramatically.

Veroni said Shelton and Offley went to the Pawtucket apartment because Lang, Shelton's ex-girlfriend, was a witness in a drug case.

"This was a planned execution," said Veroni. "It's the oldest motive in the book. That motive is to silence a witness."

Woonsocket police stopped Lang in her car six months before the shooting and allegedly discovered a small amount of crack cocaine hidden in a cigarette pack in her purse.

Lang, who was with Shelton in the car at the time, allegedly pressured Offley's uncle to tell police the drugs belonged to him.

Shelton, a convicted felon who had just been released from the ACI, was on probation at the time of the Woonsocket traffic stop. According to Lang, Shelton was worried about years of additional jail time if he took the rap.

Lang's testimony was key Wednesday in closing arguments by both the defense and the prosecution.

The defense said the survivor's testimony differed from previous statements made to police. The prosecution said Lang's testimony changed because she was heavily medicated and under treatment for gunshot wounds at the time the statements were recorded.

According to the defense, Lang underwent a Glasgow Coma Scale, a test of a patient's motor skills, prior to giving her statement to police at the hospital. The test, according to the defense, indicated Lang's motor skills were normal.

The prosecution, however, claims the test was invalid since Lang had lost a liter of blood, had an incision in her chest and an inflated lung and was on morphine at the time of her statement.

Lang's recollection of events was also questionable, according to Livingston, because she allegedly smoked marijuana a couple of times on the night of the shooting.

"Her memory may have been cloudy that night because of the marijuana," Livingston said.

In response to Lang's marijuana use, Veroni said it wasn't hidden from the jury. "She told you she smoked on that occasion," Veroni said. "She didn't try to hide that fact."

The defense also questioned how Lang knew Offley and Shelton left the apartment after the shooting in a burgundy Toyota, a fact they say she was incapable of knowing.

The weapon used in the shooting, described as a black machine gun, was never found.

Evidence in the case also included a gray backpack, 9-mm ammunition, a black ski mask and pair of gloves, all of which were found by police after the shooting in Shelton's Central Falls apartment. The defense claimed Wednesday that no DNA evidence from Offley was found in the bedroom or on the items seized by police.

The prosecution said the mask and gloves were not used in the shooting, because there was not supposed to be any witnesses. "No one attempted to conceal themselves, because no one was supposed to be left alive," Veroni said. "She (Imran) died because she would be the only witness to murder."

Another factor in the prosecution's arguments was the national manhunt for Offley and Shelton, which immediately followed the shooting. Police received numerous tips after the case aired on the TV show "America's Most Wanted." The men were captured six weeks after the shooting in a housing project in Ocala, Fla.

"The innocent man doesn't flee," Veroni said. The prosecution asked why Offley didn't contact his mother and sister, who both live in Woonsocket, or additional family in Attleboro.

"He tries to paint himself as a victim of Alonzo Shelton, under the influence of alcohol and Ecstasy," Veroni said. "He said he was a captive of Alonzo Shelton, but it's not believable. He (Offley) was the triggerman for these crimes."

The jury was also shown a picture of Imran during the prosecution's arguments. A smiling Imran was shown holding a wrapped gift in front of a Christmas tree.

Imran was engaged and the mother of a 3-year-old girl. Friends described her as a woman with a "6-foot personality in a 4-foot body."