Jurors in Ed Holley murder trial review testimony of jail informant who aided prosecutors in multiple previous cases
DiCaprio said he was in the common area of the medical unit at the Orange County Jail when he heard Holley tell another inmate that he beat his ex-girlfriend Megan McDonald in her car in the Town of Wallkill in March 2003.
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The third full day of deliberations in the second trial of Edward Holley at the Orange County Courthouse had less drama than the day before but more anticipation as the jury worked to break a near tie.
One witness they were paying extra attention to Wednesday was former jail informant John DiCaprio.
At the jury's request, the court reporter read back DiCaprio's testimony.
DiCaprio said he was in the common area of the medical unit at the Orange County Jail when he heard Holley tell another inmate that he beat his ex-girlfriend Megan McDonald in her car in the Town of Wallkill in March 2003, and that he felt terrible about it as he was walking away from the car.
DiCaprio's version has similarities to, and differences from, that of special prosecutors Julia Cornachio and Laura Murphy.
One difference is that Holley is accused of attacking McDonald in the car but then continuing to hit her in the head with a blunt object, possibly a hammer, in the face and head once the fight spilled out of the car.
One similarity is that DiCaprio testified he overheard Holley saying Megan was in the driver's seat when he attacked her from behind.
DiCaprio and Holley were in jail for reasons unrelated to the murder case.
The prosecution is relying on DiCaprio's testimony as their case is mostly circumstantial, and Holley had never confessed to investigators.
Defense attorney Paul Weber questioned DiCaprio about other cases he helped Orange County prosecutors with, including another weapons case and a murder-for-hire case in which Enoch Lowe of Wallkill was convicted.
For that assistance, DiCaprio's original ten-year sentence for a weapons case conviction was eventually brought down to four years.
He was released from jail in January.
The defense theorized it would be unlikely that someone would share details about such a crime in the common area of a medical unit with other inmates and corrections officers nearby.
News 12 reported Tuesday the jury was split — five votes for guilty and seven votes for not guilty — and the foreperson told the judge in a note that the count would probably not change.
Judge Hyun Chin Kim sent them back to deliberate, reminding them that most juries reach verdicts and this jury had only deliberated a few hours since Friday afternoon.
A dispute between two jurors Monday slowed proceedings, as one accused the other of speculating and wanted him off the jury.
There were no notes during Wednesday's deliberations about deadlocks or juror disputes.
The jurors will return Thursday morning when the court reporter will read back testimony from Damian Lewis, who was Megan McDonald's boyfriend at the time of her murder.
