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Mistrial declared in Terrace Heights murder trial

The Columbian
Published: June 20, 2015, 12:00am

YAKIMA — Prosecutors plan to retry a former Terrace Heights man for the shooting death of his wife after a jury failed to reach a verdict in his trial Thursday.

Yakima County Superior Court Judge Michael McCarthy declared a mistrial Thursday afternoon after jurors announced they were hopelessly deadlocked after eight hours of deliberation that began Wednesday.

“We are, as an office, disappointed, and we will try to prove that (Cory Lindblom) murdered his wife,” county Prosecuting Attorney Joe Brusic said. “We are already talking to his attorneys as to when.”

Lindblom, 28, is charged with second-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter in the death of his wife, McKaylee Higgs, in March 2013.

Deputy Prosecuting Attorney David Soukup, who tried the case, met with jurors after the mistrial was declared but he declined to say how they were split or what issues they were deadlocked on.

Lindblom is accused of shooting Higgs, 27, in the bedroom of their Nola Loop Road duplex. Higgs, who was 10 weeks’ pregnant, died five days after the shooting when she was removed from life support.

Lindblom told detectives that he fired four shots after awakening to see a shadowy figure advancing toward his bed. His defense attorneys argued he was acting in self-defense, as he believed the intruder was a threat to his wife, whom he thought was sleeping next to him in the bed.

The body that Lindblom felt in the bed was a family dog, defense attorneys said.

Prosecutors said Lindblom and Higgs were experiencing problems in their relationship, and that Lindblom viewed his wife’s pregnancy as a complication.

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