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Friday, July 25, 1997

Judge declares mistrial in Crawford case

ROCKPORT, Texas (AP) - Deadlocked jurors forced a mistrial Thursday in the capital murder trial of a former Texas mayor accused of kidnapping and gassing to death his business partner.

After deliberating almost 28 hours over 3-1/2 days, jurors said they remained deadlocked 11-1 and would not be able to reach a unanimous decision in the case of 42-year-old Mark Crawford.

It was not immediately known if the vote leaned toward conviction or acquittal. State District Judge Ronald Yeager declared a mistrial and set the case for retrial in October.

Attorneys didn't return telephone messages from The Associated Press late Thursday afternoon.

Crawford, mayor of the coastal town of Ingleside in 1988-1992 and a former candidate for state Senate, is accused in the May 6, 1996, slaying of Houston accountant Nick Brueggen.

Prosecutors contend Crawford and two co-defendants kidnapped Brueggen, 49, and forced him at gunpoint into a metal toolbox. They then pumped the box full of carbon monoxide, according to the charges.

Brueggen's body was later found in a shallow grave behind a warehouse Crawford often used near Aransas Pass.

Co-defendants Kirk Johnson and Michael Beckcom testified against Crawford. If convicted, Crawford would have received an automatic life prison sentence because prosecutors were not seeking the death penalty.

Prosecutors contend Crawford killed Brueggen in retaliation for him meeting with federal authorities last year about an alleged insurance scam involving both men.

After the meeting, Crawford was indicted in Fresno, Calif., on more than 30 federal counts of wire fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and perjury. That indictment, which now also charges Crawford with Brueggen's murder, is pending.

Crawford's attorney, Bill May, had argued throughout the trial that his client was the innocent victim of someone else's dirty work.

He alleged Johnson and Beckcom were ordered to kill Brueggen not by Crawford but by another man who was charged in connection with the murder but never indicted.

Johnson and Beckcom fingered Crawford only to save themselves and were not credible witnesses, May told the jury in his closing argument.

But lead prosecutor Anita O'Rourke said that even without the testimony of Johnson and Beckcom, there was plenty of other evidence on which to convict Crawford.

That evidence, she said, included Crawford's fingerprint on a piece of duct tape on the toolbox and phone records indicating Crawford began using Brueggen's cellular phone the day of the murder and stopped using it several hours after his body was found.

Crawford did not testify in his own defense. The key defense witness was his 17-year-old son, Marco Crawford, who testified that his father was with him most of the day that Brueggen was killed.

Crawford was arrested last July at a Biloxi, Miss., trailer park where he had been hiding from authorities. He has since said he ran because he was scared. Send a Letter to the Editor about This Story | Start or Join A Discussion about This Story
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