The man accused of ordering the killing of a newspaper editor in Oakland, California -- the first killing of an American journalist on U.S. soil in nearly 20 years -- has been convicted of three counts of first-degree murder, along with his associate, who was convicted of two counts. For journalists in the Bay Area, the convictions mark the end of a four-year saga where many reporters, normally competitors, collaborated in an effort to investigate the story and keep it at the front of the news. On the Web site for the Chauncey Bailey Project, ProPublica's Robert Rosenthal wrote, "There is a broader lesson in the success of CBP. In today’s journalism world, collaboration is frequently essential. The CBP epitomized that. These verdicts and the work of the CBP are a powerful reminder that investigative reporting plays a crucial role in our democracy."

Yesterday afternoon a jury found that Yusef Bey IV (shown above), who headed Oakland's Black Muslim Bakery, ordered the group's handyman, Devaughndre Broussard, to shoot Bailey in 2007 while he was investigating the group's finances for a story in his newspaper, the Oakland Post. In the end, Broussard's testimony helped convict Bey and co-defendant Antoine Mackey. Bey was also convicted of ordering the killings of Michael Wills and Odell Roberson Jr. Mackey was found guilty in the murders of Bailey and Wills, but the jury split over Mackey's guilt in Roberson's killing. Bey and Mackey face life in prison without the possibility of parole.

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Adam Martin