The Region - News from May 15, 1986

A mistrial was declared after a Santa Barbara jury deadlocked in the murder trial of prep school student James (Rusty) Tramel, 18, accused of fatally stabbing a transient sleeping in a park gazebo. Superior Court Judge Bruce Dodds released the jurors, who were stalemated 11 to 1 in favor of a second-degree murder conviction. They told Dodds that they had ruled out a first-degree murder verdict. Michael Stephenson was stabbed 17 times and his throat was slashed last Aug. 4. Tramel’s former Northwestern Preparatory School classmate, David Kurtzman, also 18, was convicted earlier of second-degree murder.