The jury in the Megan McDonald murder case appeared to reach an impasse on Monday in Orange County Court but continues to deliberate.

Edward Holley, 44, of Wawayanda, stands accused of killing McDonald 22 years ago in the Town of Wallkill. He was arrested by State Police in April of 2023 and faces a murder charge which carries a maximum sentence of 25 years to life.

Judge Hyun Chin Kim received two notes from the jury on Monday morning that pointed to a potential deadlock. The first one, received at approximately 10:20 a.m. read: “Unfortunately, after hours of deliberations we have reached an impasse. We cannot agree on a verdict and we do not see that changing.”

After consulting with the prosecution and Holley’s defense team, Judge Kim instructed the jury to continue deliberating to try to reach a verdict. The jury came back with another note for her just over an hour later, telling Judge Kim in part that they "have been here for hours going in circles" and "can't reach a unanimous decision."

At that time, Judge Kim read the jury an Allen Charge, which is an instruction given by a judge to a deadlocked jury to encourage them to reach a consensus. Late in the afternoon, the jury sent Kim another note with a request for testimony and information from the trial, which included the readback of the testimony of Eric Thurston, the brother of Andre Thurston. Andre Thurston was a suspect in McDonald’s murder and one of the last people to see her. He died in 2010.

The jury also requested Judge Kim’s charges to the jury, Holley’s official charges and a determination of “who is Bruce Watson related to?” Watson was a friend of a former boyfriend of McDonald’s, Paulie Simpson, who she had a tumultuous relationship.

The late afternoon questions provided more optimism in the courtroom that a verdict could be reached and deliberations will continue on Tuesday. They began last Tuesday and the trial started on March 10.