Puente Jury Ordered to Keep Deliberating

The judge presiding over the murder trial of Sacramento boardinghouse landlady Dorothea Montalvo Puente ordered a deadlocked jury to continue deliberating Tuesday in the hope it can reach a verdict.

The jury deliberated 11 days before reporting to the judge Monday that it had been unable to reach a verdict on any of nine murder counts against Puente, who is accused of killing tenants at her Victorian boardinghouse, burying them in her garden and then cashing their disability and Social Security checks.

Monterey County Superior Court Judge Michael Virga encouraged jurors in the nine-month trial to disregard the amount of time they are taking and try to engage in a “frank and forthright exchange of views.”

There is no indication which way the jury is leaning or the nature of the split. The judge ordered jurors to continue deliberating until this afternoon. If they still have not reached a verdict, he said he will discuss the matter again.