San Diego
Deliberations in the murder trial of former California Highway Patrol Officer Craig Peyer were postponed Tuesday because a juror became ill. Jurors are expected to resume their task of evaluating evidence and testimony in the case at 8:30 this morning.
Peyer, 38, is charged with murder in the slaying of 20-year-old Cara Knott, an honors student at San Diego State University. Prosecutors allege that Peyer stopped Knott at the Mercy Road exit on Interstate 15, strangled her and threw her body from an abandoned highway bridge near the off-ramp. Knott’s body was found Dec. 28, 1986, in a dry creek bed 65 feet below the bridge. Her Volkswagen Beetle was parked nearby with the keys in the ignition and the driver’s window partly rolled down.
In February, jurors in Peyer’s first trial deadlocked 7 to 5 in favor of conviction. Deliberations in the retrial enter their fifth day today.
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