A mistrial was declared Monday in the murder case of the 2018 killings of a police sergeant and an elderly woman in Weymouth, Massachusetts.
Deliberations in the murder trial of Emanuel Lopes, who is accused of killing Weymouth police Sgt. Michael Chesna and 77-year-old Vera Adams, had stretched over several weeks in Norfolk Superior Court. The jury, from Worcester County, had to re-start on Wednesday after an alternate juror replaced a person who was dismissed because of a conflict with vacation plans.
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The jury didn't deliberate Friday because of internal strife, a court official said. On Monday, they returned to deliberations for about a half an hour before sending a question to Judge Beverly Cannone. They were told that jurors can't be expected to be absolutely certain and that there's no reason to think another jury could do a better job arriving at a verdict.
When Cannone declared the mistrial Monday morning, a person in court broke down in tears.
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Prosecutors told the judge they intend to retry the case.
Current Weymouth Police Chief Richard Fuller and previous Chief Richard Grimes spoke to reporters after the mistrial was declared.
"No family should have to endure what this family has endured. We are steadfast in our resolve to bring this case to justice," Fuller said.
Lopes was charged with murder in the deaths of Chesna and Adams. He faced a life sentence if he was convicted; if he was found not guilty by reason of insanity, he could have been sent to a mental health facility.
His attorney argued his history of mental illness caused him to act irrationally.
Lopes is accused of attacking 42-year-old Chesna with a rock while being arrested for driving erratically and vandalizing a home. Prosecutors said that during a struggle with the police sergeant, Lopes took Chesna's gun and shot him eight times in the chest and head. Lopes is then accused of shooting Adams, who was nearby in her home's sunroom.
During the course of the trial, jurors were taken to the neighborhood in Weymouth where the fatal shootings occurred and instructed to examine the locations referenced throughout the trial. These include the Queen Anne’s Gate Apartments in Weymouth where Lopes is accused of taking his then girlfriend’s white BMW, the intersection of Main Street and Columbian Street where he allegedly crashed into another vehicle, and Burton Terrace, where the shootings happened.
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Witnesses also described during the trial the moments their paths crossed with the driver of a white BMW on the morning of July 15, 2018.
Lopes' ex-girlfriend, Mary Cronin, also testified during the trial, talking about their tumultuous relationship, plagued with concerns about his alleged infidelity and instability. At times she said she would buy him clothes, food, a cell phone, drive him to interviews and work, and let him sleep in her car.
“I noticed he was a lot more upset and angry when he was dealing with the struggles of homelessness,” said Cronin in response to questions from Tipton about his alleged history of mental illness.
She confirmed earlier testimony that Lopes talked about conspiracies, such as people in the government were Martians and that history was written wrong and needed to be re-written. Starting around July of 2018, she said he was experiencing more and more symptoms and seemed to be getting worse.
When they got back together in the summer of 2018, she said Lopes was upset when she told him that she slept with a former friend. That was the man who called Lopes hours before the shooting that claimed the lives of Chesna and Adams.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
