A 32-year-old man was sentenced Thursday to a term topping 28 years for his role in a double murder at a St. Paul motel 11 months ago.

Cass C. Oneal, of St. Paul, was the suspected shooter among the three defendants charged in the deaths of two men at the Midway Motel on Snelling Avenue N.

Nicholas B. Tousley, 30, and Dominque C. Moss, 23, bled to death from gunshot wounds to the back in the evening of March 22.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Oneal will serve roughly the first 18â…“ years in prison and the balance on supervised release.

Also convicted in Ramsey County District Court of second-degree murder were Ronald L. Conway and Eric J. Benner, both 31 years old and from St. Paul.

Conway was sentenced two weeks ago to a 40-year term. He will serve the first 26-plus years in prison and the rest on supervised release. Prosecutors considered him the ringleader behind the bloodshed. Benner's sentencing is scheduled for March 7.

According to the complaints, Benner told police that Tousley was a methamphetamine supplier and Conway a dealer. Benner said Conway claimed Tousley had stolen $1,000 from him, and they went to the motel in the area of Payne and Rose avenues to collect the money.

When Moss told the visitors to leave, he was shoved inside and shot. He was found lying in the parking lot of a nearby business, and Tousley was located on the Snelling Avenue off-ramp to W. Pierce Butler Route.

Conway told police that a man known as "Black" fired a gun, and police identified Oneal from a cellphone number on Conway's phone.

Police searched Oneal's home and found the distinctive white striped shirt worn by the shooter in a surveillance video as well as a .357-caliber revolver stolen from Coon Rapids.

Paul Walsh • 612-673-4482