Which one is correct: "was/were dead" or "is/are dead" years ago? [closed]

Edit - "Osama was dead years ago" is fine. "Osama is dead years ago" is NOT fine, as it uses the present tense in a past context.

However, the normal way of saying this is

Osama has been dead for many years.

Actually the construction "was/is dead years ago" doesn't make sense. The correct way of saying that is:

Osama's dead; he died many years ago.

Years ago ties the event to a certain time in the past. When that is the case, the past tense is required and the normal way of expressing the thought would be Osama died years ago. Was dead doesn’t work because it describes a state rather than event, but you could say something like Osama was dead long before I was born.