San Diego

A mistrial was declared Monday in the trial of a San Diego man charged with using a heavy rock to kill a pregnant woman.

The San Diego Superior Court jury deliberated three days before the foreman told Judge Kevin Midlam they were deadlocked, 9-3, for conviction of Ricky Thompson, 26.

Midlam ordered Thompson to return to court Nov. 15 for the scheduling of a retrial. The trial had lasted a month.

Thompson is accused of killing Sarah McLemore, 18, whose nude body was found April 30, 1987, on a San Diego Trolley overpass near 32nd and Commercial streets.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Eichler had urged jurors last week to convict Thompson of two counts of first-degree murder. Thompson’s attorney, Tom Bowden, argued for acquittal.

Thompson’s fingerprints were found on an empty beer can near the murder scene, but Thompson testified he had been there earlier that evening and thrown away the can. He denied killing the woman.

Two jail-house informants testified against Thompson, saying he had confessed to them details about the slaying. One quoted Thompson as saying the woman’s head split “like a ripe tomato” when hit with the large rock.

Eichler said the informants testified about details that they could have gotten only from Thompson, but Bowden attempted to discredit their testimony, calling them “jail-house snitches.”

Bowden said Thompson had no opportunity to kill McLemore, as his time that night was carefully accounted for by other witnesses.

The motive remains a mystery. Thompson is being held in County Jail without bail.