Jury Deadlocks Again Over Moose Lodge Killer

On Tuesday, a jury over the punishment for the man convicted in the gang-related shooting deaths of two men at Santa Monica's in 2005. However, the jury recommended that William Vasquez, 31, spend the rest of his life in prison related to the killings of two men in a separate incident.

In late January, a jury also deadlocked over Vasquez's punishment for the March 5, 2005, killings of alleged 17th Street gang members Jonathan Hernandez and Hector Bonilla at Moose Lodge. The jury said it was unable to decide whether to recommend a death sentence or life in prison without the possibility of parole.

On Tuesday, after deliberating for a week, the jury said it had arrived at the same deadlock. However, it asked Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Larry Paul Fidler to sentence Vasquez to life in prison without the possibility of parole for the Jan. 27, 2002, murder of Alex Haro and the Dec. 3, 2003, murder of Kevin Walton.

Vasquez faces another hearing Jan. 6 in a Los Angeles court.

In a pretrial hearing in late January, prosecutors said they would ask a jury to recommend a death sentence for Vasquez. In late July, .

In late July, California's Second District Court of Appeal by Jose Mojarro Jr.—who was also involved in the Moose Lodge killings—that there had been errors in his Los Angeles Superior Court trial. His conviction was upheld, and he was later sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

In September, the same state appeals court panel upheld the conviction of co-defendant Erick Nunez on two counts of first-degree murder. However, the panel reduced his sentence from life in prison without the possibility of parole to between 100 years and life in prison.

City News Service contributed to this report.