Imperial Beach

A jury convicted a Navy petty officer Wednesday of first-degree murder in the 1988 death of his roommate, whose body was found inside a refrigerator.

After two days of deliberations, the San Diego Superior Court jury found Robert Nydegger, 44, guilty in the death of Timothy Cudd, 39, who died of an overdose of Benedryl in November, 1988.

Sentencing was scheduled by Judge Melinda Lasater for March 20, and Nydegger faces a maximum sentence of 25 years to life in state prison.

This was Nydegger’s second trial. In the first, the jury deadlocked 6 to 6 on Nov. 14 on the murder charge. That jury did convict Nydegger on two forgery counts relating to his cashing checks belonging to his dead roommate, and he was sentenced to two years and eight months in prison on those charges.

Cudd’s body was found inside a refrigerator in the back yard of the pair’s home in Imperial Beach. Nydegger’s attorney, Charles Bumer, said his client did not kill Cudd but had placed the body there because of a mental problem.

Both the victim and the defendant were Vietnam veterans, and Cudd suffered from Huntington’s chorea, a debilitating nerve disorder that affected his movement. Bumer said both men suffered from post-traumatic stress syndrome after their service in Vietnam.

Nydegger testified that Cudd would appear, disheveled and unannounced, where Nydegger worked and often stared vacantly into space. Nydegger said his roommate got into frequent auto accidents and wore military clothing.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Amador said the motive for the slaying appeared to be that “Mr. Cudd eventually became a millstone around his neck. . . . He just wanted to get rid of him.”

Nydegger remains in County Jail without bail.

Bumer said he will make a motion for a new trial.