JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A mistrial was declared Friday in the case of a Duval County man charged with first-degree murder in the 2018 stabbing death of his wife of 20 years.
A jury convicted Gerard Stewart of tampering with evidence in the death of his wife, Julie, but deadlocked on the murder charge after four hours of deliberations.
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Stewart’s arrest in 2018 ended a daylong SWAT standoff in his Sandalwood neighborhood, where police found his wife’s body in the trunk of his car.
MULTIMEDIA: Gerald Stewart’s interrogation | Crime scene photos
Court records show that Stewart told his mother and a neighbor he killed his wife, who’d asked for a divorce. Court records also show that Stewart made incriminating statements to detectives. His lawyers filed a motion to have those statements suppressed, but it was denied.
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Stewart, who did not take the stand to testify in his own defense during the trial this week, will be back in court next week, when the process of scheduling a new trial will begin.