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Man pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder in 2018 stabbing death of wife

Guilty plea comes a day after jury seated in retrial

Jacksonville Sheriff's Office booking photo of Gerard Stewart shown on a Sky 4 image of his house on Cavalry Boulevard showing a car in his driveway with the trunk open.

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A Jacksonville man on Tuesday pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the 2018 stabbing death of his wife of 20 years.

Gerard Stewart, 49, had been charged with first-degree murder.

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Stewart’s trial on the first-degree murder charge took place last month. Duval County court records show Stewart was convicted of tampering with evidence on Feb. 11, but the jury told the judge it was hopelessly deadlocked on a verdict for first-degree murder after four hours of deliberations, and a mistrial was declared.

A jury was seated Monday for the retrial, but on Tuesday, Steward pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

He has a sentencing hearing on April 24.

Stewart was arrested in 2018, ending a daylong SWAT standoff in his Sandalwood neighborhood, where police found his wife’s body in the trunk of his car.

RELATED: Man confesses to stabbing wife, stuffing body in trunk, police say | Evidence points to marital, custody issues prompting wife’s murder

Court records show that Stewart told his mother and a neighbor he killed his wife, Julie, who’d asked for a divorce. Court records also show Stewart made incriminating statements to detectives. His lawyers filed a motion to have those statements suppressed, but it was denied.

This was not a death penalty case.

Julie Ann Stewart (Provided to WJXT)

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