Jurors in the second Moe Gibbs murder trial have deliberated nearly as long as the jury that did not reach a verdict in the first trial held in Minot.

Southeast District Judge John Paulson allowed the seven men and five women on the panel to go home for the night at 4:45 Thursday. They had been deliberating since about 8 a.m.

Gibbs, 35, is accused of killing Mindy Morgenstern, a Valley City State University student from New Salem, in her off-campus apartment on Sept. 13, 2006. A deadlocked jury in Minot could not reach a verdict in the case at a trial that lasted from June 19 to July 12.

The second trial is being held at the Burleigh County Courthouse.

The jury in Minot deliberated more than 22 hours before Paulson declared a mistrial in the case. The Burleigh County jury has deliberated for nearly 19 hours. Jurors are sequestered during lunchtime, and a local grocery store delivered lasagna and chicken alfredo on Thursday.

Around 9 a.m., jurors asked their only question of the day when they requested a DVD/CD player to view a CD put together by Thomas Edwards, a video imaging expert called by the defense.

The CD contains images of Gibbs two days after Morgenstern's murder. Edwards said he saw no scratches on his hands in his magnified versions of the videos.

Paulson later told jurors they would be able to use a laptop computer to view the CD.

Family and friends of Morgenstern have remained fixtures at the Burleigh County Courthouse since the jury was given the case at 3:40 p.m. Tuesday, as has Gibbs' fiancee, Amy Gibbs. Also on hand Thursday for parts of the day was a man who was an alternate on the jury and was released Tuesday.

Deliberations will continue today.

(Reach reporter Jenny Michael at 250-8225 or jenny.michael@bismarcktribune.com.)