Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Retrial to Begin in Tae Kwon Do Death : Crime: Martial arts expert is accused of strangling a co-worker out of professional jealousy. A first proceeding ended in deadlock in September.

The retrial next week of a Canyon Country martial arts expert accused of strangling a co-worker out of professional jealousy may prove more stressful for many of those involved in the case, who say uncertainty and hardships from the first trial have taken their toll.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in Los Angeles in the retrial of Stuart Edward Milburn, 28, who is accused of murdering 29-year-old Veronica Estrada as she walked home along a dark road last December. A hung jury ended the first trial Sept. 14, with jurors voting 8 to 4 to convict Milburn of first-degree murder.

Estrada’s sister, Theresa, said she has been having nightmares as the new trial approaches and feels more stress this time. Part of the anxiety comes from knowing that her family--including her parents, who own a restaurant in the Apple Valley--will not be joining her in the courtroom for the second trial.

“My father lost a lot of money, and he’s not going to be able to close it down again,” she said, adding that her father may be forced to sell the business in the near future because of the losses.

The prospect of a second trial has also been distressing for Milburn, who has been held without bail since his arrest March 9, his attorney, Darryl Mounger, said.

Milburn will enter the retrial without facing a special circumstance charge of committing sodomy during the murder, which was dropped by Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Charles Horan last month. With the scaled-down charge, Milburn would be eligible for parole in 25 years if convicted, instead of receiving a life sentence without the possibility of parole.

Veronica Estrada was the American Taekwondo Assn.’s top-ranked woman competitor in the second-level black-belt division and was named instructor of the year at Taekwondo USA in Canyon Country, where she and Milburn both worked. She was last seen walking home Dec. 15, 1993, along Soledad Canyon Road. Her body was discovered in brush near the road the following morning.

Prosecutors argued that Milburn felt he deserved the instructor award instead. Three witnesses testified that they saw a man resembling Milburn near the murder scene about the time of Estrada’s death.

But the identifications of Milburn were not certain, and a defense witness testified that she saw Milburn at the tae kwon do studio at the time of the murder.

The jury deliberated for four weeks--twice as long as testimony in the trial lasted--before telling Horan they were deadlocked. The jury acquitted Milburn of a forcible sodomy charge.

Several jurors said they considered the prosecution’s evidence on the murder charge weak. Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz admitted that the evidence was “problematic at best,” but said it is enough to obtain a conviction in a retrial.

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