After four hours of deliberation today, the jury in the Richard Demello murder trial sent a note to Judge Alma Hinton saying they had reached an impasse.

The contents of the note, which Hinton read into the court record, said nine jurors believed Demello was not guilty of first-degree murder in the March 28, 2010 murder of Michael Wayne Davis and three believed he was guilty of first-degree murder.

Seven jurors believe Demello is not guilty of first-degree kidnapping in the part of the case involving the state’s key witness, Mary Moore, and five believe he is guilty of the crime.

Furthermore, the jury is split on whether they believe he is guilty of larceny of Davis’s vehicle following the murder, the note said. “We can’t seem to move beyond this pattern.”

Hinton said she planned to again read the jury its instructions and ended up excusing them for the evening. They will report back at 9:30 Wednesday morning.

Demello’s attorney, Steven B. DeCillis, objected to the jury being read the instructions again, which is how the trial began this morning, especially since they had only deliberated for four hours.

Hinton overruled DeCillis’s motion and will instruct the jurors to continue deliberations.