Julius N. “Skippy” Dale III, a 26-year-old White/Caucasian male, died on Friday, May 27, 2016, after a shooting at a home on Creek Road in Sadsbury Township, Pennsylvania. He was from the Coatesville/Atglen area, born in Coatesville, and remembered by family as someone who enjoyed cooking, fishing, hunting, motorcycles, cars, the Dallas Cowboys, Van Halen, and trips to Northeast, Maryland.
He worked in construction and left behind a young son, along with his parents, siblings, extended family, and friends.
The events that led to his death unfolded inside and around a residence at 304 Creek Road, where Julius had been staying with Lucas Allen Newnam and others. According to later court summaries of witness testimony, the house had become a gathering place where drugs were being sold, and tension had been building between Julius and Newnam. Several people who were present said the conflict involved drugs, money, and accusations that Julius had “betrayed” Newnam. Some witnesses described Julius as having a handgun in a holster earlier that day, while others said they did not see him threaten Newnam at the moment of the shooting.
On the evening of May 27, the argument escalated. Witnesses later said they heard Newnam yelling at Julius and telling others to get him out of the house. One witness said Newnam came out holding a sawed-off shotgun and threatened to kill Julius if he was not removed. Another witness said Newnam appeared angry, accused Julius of betraying him, told him to leave, then turned and fired without hesitation. Julius was struck in the chest and died at the scene, with his body found near the basement doorway or outside the front area of the home.
After the shooting, Newnam fled into the woods. Witnesses said he demanded phones and keys from people at the residence, and later court records said Julius’s body was covered with a blue tarp. Pennsylvania State Police established a perimeter and searched for Newnam. He was captured without incident the next day and taken into custody. Authorities identified him as the suspect early in the investigation, stating that he had shot Julius during the course of a verbal altercation.
Newnam claimed the shooting was self-defense. At trial, he testified that Julius was armed, that he had heard Julius had threatened him, and that Julius reached for a gun immediately before the fatal shot. Prosecutors challenged that account with testimony from multiple witnesses who said Julius did not have anything in his hands, did not reach for a weapon, and did not make a threatening move when he was shot. Witnesses also said they never heard Newnam say he was afraid of Julius during the confrontation. Newnam admitted he had lied to police in his first interview and acknowledged actions after the shooting that prosecutors argued showed consciousness of guilt, including taking phones and keys, moving or covering the body, fleeing, and giving false identifying information when he encountered police.
In August 2017, a Lancaster County jury convicted Lucas Allen Newnam of first-degree murder and related charges in Julius Dale’s killing. A judge sentenced Newnam to life in prison without the possibility of parole and ordered him to pay restitution for Julius’s funeral expenses. The sentencing judge described Newnam as a “cold-blooded murderer.” Newnam later pursued appeals and post-conviction relief, continuing to argue that issues with his case and his self-defense claim warranted a new trial, but Pennsylvania appellate courts upheld the conviction and life sentence.
