Jury Says It’s Deadlocked on 1 of 12 Counts Against Ng

After more than two weeks of deliberations, the jury in the serial murder trial of Charles Ng said Tuesday it is deadlocked on one of the 12 murder charges.

Orange County Superior Court Judge John J. Ryan scheduled a hearing for this morning to discuss the impasse and decide how to proceed with deliberations in one of the longest and costliest murder prosecutions in California history.

The jury did not indicate whether it had reached verdicts on the other 11 counts faced by Ng.

Ng, 38, is accused of participating in the murders of seven men, three women and two baby boys at a secluded cabin in Calaveras County 14 years ago. Authorities say Ng and survivalist Leonard Lake lured their victims to Lake’s cabin 150 miles east of San Francisco.

Ng and Lake allegedly killed them for financial gain and sexual gratification. Lake was arrested in 1985 but killed himself during interrogation by swallowing cyanide pills he had sewn to his lapels.

Most of the victims were from the San Francisco area, but they also included a Calaveras County family living nearby and a San Diego resident, Scott Stapley.

Ng’s defense attorneys declined to comment on the jury’s announcement.

But some family members of victims expressed concern over the impasse in the trial, which has lasted four months.

“It makes me apprehensive,” said Virginia Nessley, 74, whose son, Paul Cosner, was among the victims.

Nessley, who traveled from Columbus, Ohio, for the trial, noted that earlier Tuesday jurors asked to have portions of testimony regarding Cosner’s murder read back to them.

“It makes me wonder whether it is about Paul,” Nessley said.