BURLINGTON — Jurors will return Wednesday to the courthouse on Cherry Street in Burlington as their deliberations enter a third day in the murder case against Aita Gurung.
The 12-person jury started deliberations Monday morning and broke for the day without reaching a verdict. After a full day of deliberations on Tuesday, they still had not reached a verdict.
So far, the deliberations at Chittenden County Superior criminal court have spanned about 13 hours over two days. The trial is now in its fourth week.
Gurung is charged with first-degree murder in the death of his wife, Yogeswari Khadka, and attempted second-degree murder for severely injuring her mother, Thulsa Rimal. Gurung used a meat cleaver in attacking both women at a home they shared in Burlington in October 2017, according to charging documents.
A key question before the jury is not whether Gurung committed the attack, but whether he was insane at the time and therefore not criminally responsible.
Jurors on Tuesday morning requested and listened to a portion of Rimal’s testimony, focusing on when she was talking about when Gurung allegedly assaulted his wife a couple weeks before the meat cleaver attack.
The jury also wanted to hear Rimal’s testimony about the events that took place on the day of the attack. During the part of the testimony played back for the jury, Rimal said through a Nepali interpreter that while the attack was underway, she asked the defendant, “‘What are you doing, what are you doing?’” but that didn’t stop him.
Problems with the sound quality in the courtroom that made it difficult to hear playback testimony on Monday appeared to have been resolved by Tuesday.
The jury came back with another question around 12:40 p.m. Tuesday, this time asking for the body cam footage of the first responding officers to the scene of the attack on Hyde Street.
The judge granted that request and a thumb drive containing those two exhibits was brought into the jury room for jurors to review.
The jury has sent a total of four notes out to the judge during the deliberations, all seeking either to review witness testimony or video footage shown during the trial.
Correction: An earlier version of this story used the incorrect time for when the jury reviewed testimony.
