Justice was delayed again for the family of a psychologist who was murdered in her Manhattan office in 2008. David Tarloff, a schizophrenic man, faces up to life in prison for slashing Kathryn Faughey 15 times with a meat cleaver. Faughey shared offices with Dr. Kent Shinbach, whom Tarloff was waiting to see and allegedly rob. But he attacked Faughey when she appeared, and then nearly killed Shinbach when he tried to intervene.
Tarloff, 42, admits to slaying Faughey, but says he was driven to kill her by voices that he thought were God telling him to do it. (He later said his intention was to rob Shinbach to get enough money to take his mother from a nursing home to Hawaii.) Tarloff’s court-appointed lawyers argued that their client was too mentally ill to fathom the wrongness of his actions.
Over the course of ten days of deliberations, the jurors sent two notes to Judge Edward McLaughlin explaining that they were deadlocked. But until today, the judge forced them to continue deliberations. The Post reports that their deliberations "were so contentious, their shouts could be heard in the courtroom through the closed deliberations door." Defense lawyers tell the tabloid the jury was split 8-3 in favor of acquitting Tarloff based on the insanity defense, with one juror undecided.
After the jury sent another note today insisting they were deadlocked, the judge finally relented, saying, "I'm willing to say we are finished." Defense lawyer Bryan Konoski tells the Post, "Nine to three in our favor certainly demonstrates what we've been saying all along—that David Tarloff is severely mentally ill and is not responsible by reason of insanity. He belongs in a secure mental hospital not a prison."
The Manhattan DA intends to retry Tarloff, with another court date set for May 21st. After today's mistrial declaration, the Times reports that two jurors paused to speak with Dr. Faughey’s siblings and apologize for their fellow jurors. “I tried very hard,” one juror told the family, his eyes welling up.
