GASTONIA, NC (WBTV) - The Judge declared a mistrial Monday in the second murder trial of convicted killer Danny Hembree.
The judge declared a mistrial after Hembree took the stand and told the jury that he had sex with a member of the prosecution team.
The judge said there is no reason to believe Hembree's allegations of having sex with a female assistant district attorney are true. In fact, the judge said it appeared Hembree was trying to commit fraud against the court. That led Hembree's attorneys to ask to withdraw from the trial.
The prosecution argued strongly against declaring a mistrial, but the judge said he had no choice.
Hembree is on trial for the death of Randi Saldana in 2009.
While Hembree was speaking to the judge Monday, Saldana's sister stood up and started yelling obscenities at Hembree. Deputies removed the entire family from the courtroom.
Earlier in the day, the defense told the jury about the night of Saldana's death.
Hembree said he got in an argument with his girlfriend after doing lots of crack cocaine. He ditched his girlfriend for Randi Saldana and took her back to his mom's house to watch porn, do drugs, and have sex.
He says she died accidentally from sex-related strangulation. Then he described hiding her body in a closet for 3 to 4 days before driving her across the SC state line and setting her body on fire. He says he was scared that 3 women had ended up dead in his presence in 3 weeks.
The jury has already heard Hembree confess to two 2009 killings in a taped police interview. It is not known why Hembree said three during his testimony.
Friday, the defense worked to discredit that confession.
"Basically I told them what they wanted to hear," said Hembree, who explained that he would provide details of the alleged murder in order to get favors from police. Hembree said the favors could be anything from help with his case to cigarettes or coffee in jail.
Hembree also said he was sleep deprived and taking a drug cocktail of pills, cocaine, and alcohol during the time of the confessions, where he admitted to killing ten people in Florida and North Carolina.
During Hembree's testimony, he told jurors he was not guilty of murder, but had lied in his confessions. However, Hembree couldn't seem to give a consistent answer on why he lied.
"If I had the answer to that, I believe I could find peace," said Hembree.
Hembree was sentenced to death last November for the murder of 17-year-old Heather Catterton.
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