5 to 7 split: Jury in Ed Holley murder trial told to keep deliberating after note telling judge they are 'deadlocked'
Jurors wrapped up their third day of deliberations Tuesday afternoon at the Orange County Courthouse in Goshen, and are expected to resume deliberations Wednesday morning into whether to convict Holley of murdering Megan McDonald in March 2003.
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Jurors tasked with deciding the outcome of the second murder trial of Edward Holley said Tuesday they are deadlocked, and were told to continue their work.
Jurors wrapped up their third day of deliberations Tuesday afternoon at the Orange County Courthouse in Goshen, and are expected to resume deliberations Wednesday morning into whether to convict Holley of murdering his ex-girlfriend, Megan McDonald, in March 2003.
The note about the division on the jury came at 11am, prompting solemn expressions and deep sighs from both the prosecution and defense fearing a repeat of Holley's first murder trial.
"At this time we are deadlocked," the jury foreperson wrote. "I don't think that will change. At this time, we have five votes for guilty and seven for not guilty."
Judge Hyun Chin Kim told jurors that since they have only been deliberating for a few hours over three days and that most juries eventually reach verdicts, they should continue deliberating.
The jury then requested the court reporter re-read testimony from a close friend of Holley about a party in the Town of Wallkill the last night Megan was seen alive that prosecutors have incorporated into their case against Holley.
The jury also requested, and were provided, all phone records from the official evidence file for the case.
The first sign of division on the jury came Monday morning when the jury foreperson wrote to Judge Kim notifying her of two jurors who were not getting along.
Special prosecutors Julia Cornachio and Laura Murphy have contended that Holley was in the back seat of McDonald's car when he attacked McDonald who was in the driver's seat, possibly with a hammer, before the incident spilled outside the car.
McDonald's body was found the following day by a dumpster on Bowser Road.
Her head and face were caved in from blunt force trauma, likely from a hammer.
Her car was found three days later in an apartment complex parking lot.
The case is mostly circumstantial.
It is unclear geographically where the murder happened and unclear who was in McDonald's car at the time of the attack.
Jurors reheard testimony Monday from retired New York State Police Investigator John Ramos, the lead investigator for the first year of the case.
They were refreshed on Ramos's exchanges with the defense, led by attorney Paul Weber, who dove into Ramos's handling of the crime scene and his process for eliminating several other friends of McDonald as suspects.
