Judge Seals Verdict in Pasadena Triple Slaying : Courts: Decision on defendant in two-jury trial is kept secret while deliberations continue in case of second suspect.

The judge presiding over an unusual two-jury trial of defendants charged with a triple slaying last year in Pasadena temporarily sealed the verdict of one jury Friday as the second continued to deliberate.

Citing media interest in the case, Superior Court Judge J. Michael Byrne told jurors who had just delivered a verdict in the case of David Adkins that he would seal their verdict until the second jury, which is considering charges against Vincent Hebrock, also finished.

Adkins and Hebrock, both 18, are charged with the murders of Kathy Macaulay, 18, Heather Goodwin, 18, and Danae Palermo, 17, during a drunken gathering in a hillside home in Pasadena on March 21, 1991.

“I don’t want the publicity in (Adkins’) case to interfere in any way with the deliberations of the other jury,” Byrne said.

The Hebrock jury will resume its ninth day of deliberations Monday.

The trial has been under way in Pasadena Superior Court for four weeks, with 32 jurors--including alternates--sometimes jamming the courtroom to hear testimony.

Byrne ruled that the two cases should be separated because of statements that each defendant made when he was arrested after the murders.

The juries heard tapes of Adkins and Hebrock apparently confessing to the murders and implicating each other.

But, under a 1965 state Supreme Court ruling, statements by one defendant cannot be presented verbatim if they are damaging to another defendant.

Thus, when Hebrock’s taped statements described Adkins shooting two of the girls with a 12-gauge shotgun, Adkins’ jury was absent. When Adkins’ statement accused Hebrock of firing the first shot, killing Macaulay, the Hebrock jury was absent.