Retrial in 1993 Buffalo Murder Case Ends With a Deadlocked Jury

New York|Jury Fails to Reach a Verdict in Retrial of Man Accused in 1993 Murder

Thirty-two years after a woman was brutally murdered in a Buffalo suburb, a jury said on Monday that it was unable to come to a verdict in the retrial of a man accused in the crime.

The man, Brian Scott Lorenz, had been charged with strangling 33-year-old Deborah Meindl in 1993 and was convicted the next year, along with James Pugh, an associate. Both he and Mr. Pugh received life sentences, despite repeatedly declaring their innocence, and embarked on a lengthy effort to seek their exoneration.

That effort gained momentum in 2023 when the convictions of Mr. Lorenz and Mr. Pugh were set aside by Justice Paul B. Wojtaszek of New York State Supreme Court, who noted that none of the genetic material taken from the crime scene matched the defendants’ and that prosecutors had not revealed certain evidence to the defense.

Closing arguments in Mr. Lorenz’s new trial were made last week, after two weeks of jury selection and testimony. But after nearly five days of deliberation, the jury said on Monday it could not come to a verdict, even as Mr. Lorenz, now 56 and imprisoned for more than three decades, sat just feet away.

After the jury’s decision, Justice Wojtaszek said the parties would reconvene this month to determine how to proceed.

This a developing story. Check back for updates.

Camille Baker and David Andreatta contributed reporting from Buffalo, N.Y.