Jury deadlocks on death penalty for killer

An Orange County Superior Court jury has deadlocked on whether a man found guilty of killing a woman in Costa Mesa should receive the death penalty or life in prison without parole, a court clerk said Tuesday.

The jury deadlocked 10-2, causing Superior Court Judge Francisco Briseno to declare a mistrial in the sentencing phase of Jason Michael Balcom’s case, according to the Orange County Register.

Balcom, 41, was brought to Santa Ana from Michigan to stand trial for the 1988 slaying of 22-year-old Malinda Gibbons. Prosecutors contend that Balcom found Gibbons home alone in her apartment, used her husband’s neckties to tie her up, then raped her and stabbed her in the chest.

She was four to six weeks pregnant when she died.

At the time, Balcom was living with his mother and an aunt less than a mile from Gibbons’ apartment at what is now the Costa Mesa Motor Inn, prosecutors said.

Gibbons had moved to Costa Mesa from Utah with her husband a month before her death.

Balcom was serving a 30- to 50-year prison term in Michigan for rape when his DNA was linked to Gibbons’ slaying in 1999. He was found guilty March 12 of first-degree murder with four sentencing enhancements.

Attorneys will appear in court April 9 for a pretrial hearing to restart the penalty phase, according to court documents.

— Lauren Williams

Twitter: @lawilliams30