A mistrial was declared on Dec. 22 in the murder trial of a 62-year-old Texas man who admitted killing a gay man in 1971 in the victim’s Pacific Beach apartment after jurors deadlocked over whether he was guilty of murder or manslaughter.

Eight jurors agreed with the prosecution that Gerald Metcalf was guilty of first-degree murder, while four held with the defense position that Metcalf was guilty of voluntary manslaughter due to his mental condition at the time. They deliberated 12 1/2 hours over three days, but on Tuesday they told San Diego Superior Court Judge Ronald Frazier they were hopelessly deadlocked.

Metcalf’s lawyer, David Lamb, conceded that Metcalf killed Gerald Jackson, 27, on Dec. 29, 1971, after Jackson picked up Metcalf, who was then 24 years old, at a seedy cruising area in downtown San Diego.

Jackson was stabbed 61 times and his nude body was found days later in his apartment by two friends after he had not shown up for work at the post office.

Deputy District Attorney Jill Schall said she will seek to put Metcalf on trial a second time, but the ultimate decision may be made by District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis. Metcalf will appear Jan. 5 before Judge David Gill, who presided over the two-week trial.

Metcalf, who has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia, usually appeared in court as if he was on heavy medication. After Metcalf heard of the mistrial while attorneys were talking privately with the judge, he turned around and smiled to his wife, Barbara, of almost 30 years.

While deliberating, jurors turned in 10 notes to the judge seeking information or testimony re-reading, but some of the notes were written about other jurors whom a few said were not deliberating and would not budge from their positions.

One note focused on a female psychiatrist who was a member of the jury and who agreed with the defense position that Metcalf’s mental state was such that he could not have formed the intent to commit murder.

Most of the seven woman, five man jury met with attorneys in the hallway after the mistrial was declared, and they shared their frustrations. Some said two male jurors looked to the psychiatrist juror almost in guidance. Those two men voted with the psychiatrist and with another young juror for manslaughter.

The defense hired Dr. Mark Kalish, a psychiatrist, who said that Metcalf must have killed Jackson in a schizophrenic episode and was too mentally impaired to form the intent to commit murder. The psychiatrist on the jury agreed with the defense psychiatrist.

Another problem with this 38-year-old case was that jury instructions from 1971 had to be read to this jury because that was the law then. This allowed Lamb to argue for “diminished capacity,” which is a defense that was changed by the state legislature after the 1978 assassinations of Supervisor Harvey Milk and Mayor George Moscone in San Francisco.

Former supervisor Dan White claimed he ate junk food, notably twinkies, before he shot the two men to death, and his jury convicted him of two counts of voluntary manslaughter.

Barbara Metcalf said that her husband had schizophrenic episodes in which his voice became demonic. She recounted how he once pulled a gun on her, tried to drown her in a lake and threatened to stab her during their marriage. A number of jurors afterwards said they thought those incidents were domestic violence and not evidence of a schizophrenic episode.

Barbara Metcalf had her husband committed to a mental hospital, she said, and records show he spent 486 days in mental confinement over 30 years. When discussing Barbara Metcalf’s testimony, one juror said “I thought the murder was the (source) of his craziness.”

“He knew what he was doing,” said the jury foreman who voted for murder.

Metcalf stole the victim’s Ford Torino and the stereo system that Jackson’s father gave him for Christmas. Metcalf pawned the stereo for $30 and used Jackson’s identification, which was written on the pawn slip.

Metcalf left cigarette butts in the apartment including one that was stained with the victim’s blood.

Police saved the cigarette butts and in 2008 DNA evidence matched Metcalf as the smoker. Metcalf’s fingerprints, including some in blood, were found and preserved all these years.

A police intern matched Metcalf’s fingerprints via a shared print database in Texas where Metcalf had been arrested and his prints and DNA were on file.

Ron Coberly, now 64, testified and explained how he and a friend found Jackson’s body after he was able to unlock the front door through a window. Coberly said he encountered “the smell of death” as they entered the apartment, and Jackson’s body was found on the floor of his bedroom.

Coberly said Jackson’s alarm clock was ringing and a bloody hand print was on the light switch.

A new witness, Eddie Hamilton, testified and said that he and Metcalf were living in a Chula Vista motel in Dec. 1971 and both were without jobs.

“Maybe I’ll roll a queer,” Hamilton quoted Metcalf as saying. Hamilton said Metcalf later told him he killed a guy, but Hamilton didn’t believe him.

Hamilton said Metcalf told him a gay guy took him home, and while Jackson showered, Metcalf got a knife, took off his clothes and hid the knife between his legs in bed. Jackson was stabbed repeatedly in his bed.

Lamb argued that Metcalf had an unfavorable incident with another homosexual earlier in his life and this may have caused him to panic if Jackson attempted to have sex with him. Schall said, “if you have such a panic over a gay man coming on to you, then why are you hanging out there” in a cruising area.

Schall argued for several theories in finding Metcalf guilty of first-degree murder, including the felony murder rule and lying in wait.

She argued that Metcalf killed Jackson as part of a plan to commit theft.

Linda Keim, of Escondido, is Jackson’s sister, and she attended the trial daily as did Metcalf’s wife.

Jackson also worked at the Barbary Coast, a gay bar that has long since closed. Metcalf is housed at the Vista Detention Facility on $1 million bail.