Mack Jurors Uncertain; Judge Sends Them Back

The jury deliberating the fate of Robert Earl Mack said Monday that it had reached a deadlock between first- and second-degree murder convictions in the case of the former General Dynamics employee who is charged with shooting two company officials after his termination hearing.

But the judge ordered the jury to keep trying for a verdict.

Superior Court Judge Richard Murphy said four days of deliberations was too little time to consider the charges in the case.

“In my opinion, you have not been deliberating long enough,” Murphy said.

The note from the jury said the jurors had reached the conclusion that a crime was committed.

“But we have arrived at an impasse where we cannot unanimously agree on the degree of guilt on Count 1,” the note read. Count One is the charge that Mack murdered 25-year-old Michael Konz, a labor negotiator, after the Jan. 24 grievance hearing.

Using similar language, the note went on to say that the jury was unable to decide on the degree related to the charge that Mack attempted to murder his former supervisor, 52-year-old James English, who was critically injured and suffered permanent neurological damage.

The jury was instructed to consider four options against Mack in the killing of Konz: first-degree murder, second-degree murder, voluntary manslaughter and not guilty (innocent).

Murphy began his statement to the jury by saying the trial has been very difficult: “The has been a long trial, the evidence is voluminous, the legal issues are complex. . . . Reasonable people can disagree.”

Deliberations are expected to resume this afternoon.