(12/11/06) RIVERHEAD ? Jurors in the Hauppauge samurai sword murder trial sent a note to the judge Monday saying they are deadlocked.

Judge Robert Doyle ordered the jury to go back and keep trying. Twenty-year-old Zachary Gibian is accused of killing his stepfather, 51-year-old Scott Nager, with a sword last year. Gibian has testified during the trial that he initially confessed to the crime to protect the real killer, his mother. The mother, in turn, pleaded the Fifth.

Gibian has also claimed Nager, a retired New York City police officer, psychologically and sexually abused him for years. The suspect?s mother, Laura Nager, has insisted through her attorney that she is not the killer.

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