BANGOR, Maine — Jurors deliberating the fate of two out-of-state men charged in the deaths of three people in August 2012 worked well into Friday night but were unable to come to a decision by the judge’s 10 p.m. deadline, so he ordered them to return to the Penobscot Judicial Center on Tuesday to continue their deliberations.
Superior Court Justice William Anderson said he would have preferred to continue deliberations Saturday, but he decided on Tuesday since two jurors had previous plans for the holiday weekend.
“Be safe and be healthy over the next three days, because we can’t lose any of you,” the judge said. “We can’t proceed with 11 jurors. This is quite unprecedented, really, the combination of a three-day weekend and having jurors deliberate for essentially three days.
“Don’t make up your mind on anything until the deliberations are over,” Anderson said.
Nicholas Sexton, 33, of Warwick, Rhode Island, and Randall “Ricky” Daluz, 36, of Brockton, Massachusetts, are each charged with three counts of murder and one count of arson in the grisly deaths of Nicolle A. Lugdon, 24, of Eddington, Daniel T. Borders, 26, of Hermon and Lucas A. Tuscano, 28, of Bradford.
Their three bodies were found burned beyond recognition inside a rental car that was discovered on fire in the early morning hours of Aug. 13, 2012.
All three are survived by children. Tuscano’s little girl was born about two weeks after his death.
“He never got to meet her,” his mother said.
Family and friends of Tuscano, Lugdon and Borders have been in the courtroom during the more than three weeks of testimony and jury deliberation. On Friday, Tuscano’s loved ones brought T-shirts that showed his smiling face and some wore orange bracelets that were printed with his name, birthdate and favorite saying, “How’s ya bug?”
Sexton’s mother and aunt sat behind him in the courtroom Friday.
Both Sexton and Daluz have pleaded not guilty.
Opening statements were made on May 1 and testimony started on May 2, and closing arguments were completed late Tuesday afternoon.
Jurors deliberated for 11 hours Wednesday without leaving the courthouse. They returned at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, when they viewed video of an individual running from the burning rental vehicle and surveillance footage of a defendant believed to be Sexton renting a room at the Ramada Inn in Bangor.
After a lunch break Thursday, jurors passed around the guns the prosecution has said were the murder weapons. Some jurors inspected the .32-caliber derringer and .380-caliber pistol, which were sealed in clear plastic. They appeared to be checking the safety on the pistol.
Deliberations began again at 8:30 a.m. Friday and jurors made a request in the morning to handle the guns, and to rehear testimony of Sexton and Katelyn Lugdon, the sister of Nicolle Lugdon and girlfriend of Borders.
That was completed at 2:35 p.m. and jurors returned to the jury room to continue to deliberate until the judge sent them home at 10 p.m.
Bangor Police Chief Mark Hathaway said Friday night that while the killings happened in Bangor, the fact the defendants were from outside Maine made the case difficult.
“The complexity of the case required we get assistance from multiple agencies,” the police chief said from the courthouse.
Watch bangordailynews.com for updates.