An Arizona jury was dismissed after it reported that it had not reached a unanimous decision on whether to execute a Hawaii prisoner in a murder case in Arizona in 2010.

In December, a jury convicted Mitty Maugaotega Jr. of first-degree murder for the murder of 26-year-old Bronson Nunuha at the Saguaro Correctional Center in Eloy, Arizona, but Maugaotega should have been sentenced to death. could not agree on whether crime.

Mauga Otega and Nunuha were sentenced to prison in Hawaii and were serving time in a privately run saguaro facility when Nunuha was murdered. It houses 1,000 prisoners.

Hawaii abolished the death penalty in 1954, but Arizona continues to carry out executions, executing three prisoners last year. Mauga Otega committed the murder in Arizona, so Arizona law applied.

Mauga Otega confessed to police that he attacked Nunuha in his cell, and an autopsy report showed Nunuha was stabbed more than 150 times. Mauga Otega, the leader of the USO Family prison gang, also told police that he carved the letters “USO” on Nunuha’s chest.

A jury concluded in December that Mauga Otega was eligible for the death penalty for being “especially brutal” for the murder, but stalled Wednesday after more than four days of deliberations on the question of whether to actually pass the sentence. rice field.

Under Arizona law, the Pinal County Attorney’s Office could seek Mauga Otega’s death penalty again with a new juror. If not, the judge will sentence you to life imprisonment. The Pinal County Attorney’s Public Affairs Officer, Michael Pelton, declined to comment on the case.