Jury deadlocks in trial of neighbor accused of killing Arkansas beauty queen

Jury deadlocks in trial over beauty queen’s death

CLARKSVILLE, Ark. — Jurors have deadlocked in the trial of an Arkansas man charged in the 2005 beating death of a local beauty queen.

Jurors deliberated for almost three hours Saturday before telling a judge they couldn’t reach a unanimous decision on the guilt or innocence of Gary Dunn. Deliberations had started anew Friday when an alternate replaced one of the original jurors.

Dunn was charged with killing 19-year-old Nona Dirksmeyer. She was the reigning Miss Petit Jean Valley when she was found dead in her Russellville apartment in December 2005.

Dunn lived next door, and prosecutors say DNA evidence links him to the crime scene.

Dunn’s defense attorneys claim Dirksmeyer’s boyfriend, Kevin Jones, killed her even though Jones was acquitted in 2007.