Not Guilty.

The jury in the second trial of Edward Holley acquitted the 45-year-old Wednesday of the murder of his ex-girlfriend Megan McDonald after 13 days of deliberations with many signals that a mistrial declaration was just ahead.

Jurors told News 12 after the verdict that though some in the deliberation room thought Holley may have killed Megan in the Town of Wallkill in March 2003, they could not ultimately vote to convict him because the prosecution's case had "a lot of holes" and the physical evidence was lacking.

"The DNA [evidence] was weak," jury foreperson Rick McCaffrey said. "It was there but it was weak."

McCaffrey said he was initially leaning toward voting to convict Holley.

"It was a hard process," McCaffrey said, "but we all just came together at the end and decided there wasn't enough evidence."

New York State Police investigators, who arrested and charged Holley with murder in concert with another person in early 2023, believed Holley attacked Megan while the two were in her car late at night.

Special prosecutors Julia Cornachio and Laura Murphy contended Holley hit Megan several times in the face and head with a blunt object, possibly a hammer, though no murder weapon has been recovered.

Low match DNA analysis done by Pennsylvania-based company Cybergenetics indicated that one mixture of DNA from Megan's cellphone had DNA that was 53 times more likely to match Holley's DNA than that of a random person and had an error rate of 1 in 400.

A Cybergenetics representative said in his testimony the figure was a low match statistic.

During cross-examination of the Cybergenetics rep and of State Police investigators, Holley's defense team said police were "painting the target" to somehow connect a DNA sample to Holley.

State police's initial tests did not conclude Holley's DNA matched DNA on Megan's phone and in her car.

State police then provided the evidence to Cybergenetics, informing the company that Holley was their suspect.

The company used special software to determine the likelihood that Holley's DNA could match the evidence.

The company analyzed at least two DNA mixtures before testing the mixture that produced the figures presented in court.

"They went by evidence," Holley's cousin CJ Warner said of the jury, "not emotion."

Warner said he believes there are people still in the community sitting on crucial information about Megan's death.

"You can never replace her," Warner said, "but at least we can get justice for her. So maybe one of those people or whoever, will come forward."

Megan McDonald's family left the courthouse immediately after the verdict was read, declining an interview.

"Of course we're disappointed," Cornachio said Wednesday as she was leaving the courthouse, "but we respect the verdict of the jury."

News 12 sent an inquiry late Wednesday to State Police with questions about the status of the investigation of Megan McDonald's murder.