Jury Deadlocked in Murder Trial

A jury convicted a Navy petty officer Wednesday of forging two checks in the name of his dead roommate but remained deadlocked on whether the defendant killed the man.

After five full days of deliberations, the San Diego Superior Court jury found Robert Nydegger, 43, guilty of two forgery charges and not guilty of two other forgery counts.

Nydegger also is charged with giving his roommate, Timothy Cudd, 39, an overdose of Benedryl in November, 1988. Cudd’s body was found inside a refrigerator in the back yard of their Imperial Beach house.

Nydegger’s attorney, Charles Bumer, has argued that Cudd committed suicide and Nydegger only placed his roommate’s body in the refrigerator because of a mental problem. Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Amador has argued for a murder conviction, saying that Nydegger had financial problems and forged checks before and after Cudd was killed.

Eleven of the 12 jurors told Judge Allan Preckel that further discussions would be useless, but one juror told the judge that more deliberations might be helpful.

Preckel ordered the group to return today for further deliberations.

Sentencing on the two counts was set for Dec. 12.

Attorneys would not say how the jury was divided on the murder charge.

Testimony began Oct. 16. Nydegger has been in County Jail since his arrest almost two years ago.