

NEWARK — The jury in the Newark schoolyard murder trial went home for the day this affternoon, two hours after having started deliberations.

The panel will resume Thursday morning. The judge excused the eight-man, four-woman jury at about 4 p.m. today because of the inclement weather, with snow blowing horizontally outside.

The defendant, Gerardo Gomez, is the last of six men and boys charged with killing three college-aged friends and wounding a fourth in the Mount Vernon School playground on Aug. 4, 2007. The victims were all shot execution-style in the head.

The murder trial in Superior Court in Newark is now in its sixth week, having been interrupted by Hurricane Sandy and Tuesday's presidential election. Closing arugments were Monday.

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