Judge Declares Mistrial in Milburn Murder Case : Courts: Jurors deadlock after deliberating a month. Martial arts expert faces a second trial in the slaying of his colleague Veronica Estrada.

The murder trial of a martial arts expert accused of strangling another instructor out of professional jealousy ended in a mistrial Wednesday, with the jury leaning toward a conviction but unable to reach a unanimous verdict after a month of deliberations.

A new trial was automatically ordered for Stuart Edward Milburn, 27, who remained in custody without bail.

Milburn was charged with murdering Veronica Estrada, 29, as she walked to her Canyon Country home along a dark road last December.

The Los Angeles Superior Court jury declared Wednesday that it had voted 8-4 earlier in the day to convict Milburn of murder, but had given up hope of reaching a unanimous decision.

The jury acquitted him of a second charge of forcible sodomy.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz contended during the two-week trial that Milburn killed Estrada out of professional jealousy over her achievements. She was the American Taekwondo Assn.’s top-ranked female competitor in the second-level black belt division and had been named instructor of the year at Taekwondo USA in Canyon Country, an honor Milburn indicated he felt he deserved instead.

Milburn faced a charge of murder with a special circumstance--the sodomy--but Foltz did not request the death penalty.

The Milburn and Estrada families were both anguished by the jury’s announcement.

“It’s obvious the jury did not listen to the evidence,” said Milburn’s father, Stuart H. Milburn. “They listened to the inflammatory oratory of the D.A., who misstated evidence.”

Estrada’s father, Robert, shook his head as the jurors announced they were deadlocked. Later, with tears in his eyes, he described Milburn as “so cold and sure of himself he could buffalo people who couldn’t think for themselves.”

In 19 days of deliberations spread over four weeks, jurors said their opinions shifted wildly, from a 6-6 deadlock to a 10-2 vote for murder conviction.

After nine days, the jurors told Judge Charles Horan they were deadlocked 7 to 5, but the judge ordered them to continue deliberating.

“It got really tense after a while,” said Jon Cindrich, 31, a South Bay resident who was the jury foreman. He said some jurors got so tired of the lengthy arguments they stopped taking part or paying attention.

Estrada’s partially clothed body was discovered on Dec. 16 in the brush alongside Soledad Canyon Road. Police said she had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

Three witnesses said they saw a man--whom they later identified in a photo lineup as Milburn--near the murder scene at 8:15 p.m., about the time police believe Estrada was killed. In addition, Milburn’s ex-girlfriend testified that in conversations with her, he changed his alibi for the night of the murder and that he knew details of the incident before police did.

Milburn’s attorney, Darryl Mounger, tried to convince the jury that Estrada’s boyfriend, Eddie Hockaday, had a stronger motive and the opportunity to kill her. Witnesses said the two argued shortly before she was killed.

Cindrich said he voted for acquittal because he considered the prosecution’s case weak and a student at the tae kwon do studio testified she saw Milburn there about the time Estrada was killed. The prosecutor produced several other witnesses who said they did not see Milburn in the studio at that time.

“You don’t have to have 100 people saying they’re innocent,” Cindrich said. “You only need one.”

Even some jurors who voted to convict Milburn called the prosecution’s case weak, saying the witness’s accounts sounded unreliable and there was little other evidence placing him at the scene.

“I voted guilty, but just barely,” said Mark Gonzales, 37, an Inglewood resident.

But Ken Carver, 51, of San Gabriel, said he consistently voted to convict Milburn of murder because of his changing alibi, and apparent motive and opportunity. He said he dismissed Mounger’s theory that Hockaday could have killed Estrada “pretty much from the get-go.”

A second trial will be held unless a judge decides no future jury is likely to arrive at a verdict, a possibility Foltz called unlikely.

A pretrial hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30.