First Married Lesbian Murder Case in Mass. Ends in Hung Jury

Cara Rintala may face a second trial for the killing of her wife, Annamarie (inset)

The strange, sad saga of Cara and Annamarie Rintala was supposed to come to an end this week, but when jurors failed to either aquit or convict Cara — on trial for murdering her wife in their Granby, Mass. home in 2010 — a Hampshire Superior Court jury declared a mistrial. Prosecutor Steven Gagne told ABC40 that Rintala won't be getting a pass, saying, "We certainly look forward to re-trying the case, we are fully committed to re-trying this case.”  

The case made history: it is allegedly the first murder between a same-sex married couple in the state of Massachusetts. After Annamarie was found strangled to death in the basement of their home in 2010 it took 18 months or prosecutors to pull together a case against Rintala. According to ABC40, the juorors were shown more than 100 pieces of evidence, with prosecutors arguing that Rintala murdered her wife over battles she'd had with the victim about money and custody of their  daughter, Brianna.

The jury deliberated for five days before the mistrial was declared. MassLive.com did fairly riveting daily reports from inside the courtroom during the 16-day trial as well as updates on juror instructions and requests during the deliberations. 

Read more on the case at MassLive.