Santa Clarita / Antelope Valley : Murder Retrial Starts for Martial Arts Instructor : Courts: Prosecutor tells jurors in new case proceeding that personal jealousy was motive in tae kwon do star’s slaying.

A Canyon Country martial arts expert strangled a rival co-worker, dumped her partially clothed body along a Santa Clarita roadside and then lied to police about his location on the night of the killing, a prosecutor alleged Tuesday.

The accusations began the retrial of Stuart Edward Milburn, 28, who is charged with killing 29-year-old Veronica Estrada as she walked home last December from the Canyon Country tae kwon do studio where they both taught. Milburn’s first trial, also in Los Angeles Superior Court, ended in a hung jury in September.

Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert Foltz, who has contended that Milburn killed Estrada out of personal jealousy, told jurors Tuesday during opening statements in the retrial that three separate motorists have placed Milburn near the scene of the slaying on Soledad Canyon Road around the time Estrada is believed to have been killed.

“I think when you hear all the facts . . . you’ll come to the conclusion that Stuart Milburn killed Veronica Estrada,” Foltz said.

Estrada, who was one of the American Taekwondo Assn.’s top-ranked female competitors, was a promising prospect to win an upcoming world championship, Foltz said.

By comparison, Milburn held no titles and had failed to garner similar accolades for his martial arts accomplishments, Foltz said.

But defense attorney Darryl Mounger disputed the prosecutor’s claims, telling jurors that a witness will testify that she saw Milburn place a Christmas card in her gym bag at the tae kwon do studio around the time Estrada was strangled.

“When you look at the times and you look at the credibility of the witnesses . . . I’m sure at the end of this case you will find that Mr. Milburn is innocent,” Mounger said.

Milburn’s father, Stuart H. Milburn, a retired 27-year veteran of the Los Angeles Police Department, was the first witness to testify and is expected to continue his testimony today. In an interview outside the courtroom, Milburn maintained that his son is innocent and said prosecutors lack physical evidence to place his son at the murder scene.

“All evidence shows he is innocent,” Milburn said of his son. “He was never involved.”

The body of Estrada, who had been named instructor of the year at Taekwondo USA in Canyon Country where she and Milburn both taught, was discovered last Dec. 16 in heavy brush along Soledad Canyon Road. Police said she had been strangled and sexually assaulted.

The first trial in the case ended with only eight of 12 jurors voting to convict Milburn of first-degree murder. However, Milburn was acquitted of a forcible sodomy charge and later some of the jurors said they considered the prosecution’s evidence to be weak.