Mistrial declared at murder trial of Peter Beckett in Kamloops, B.C.

A mistrial has been declared at the murder trial of Peter Beckett, a former New Zealand city councillor accused of drowning his wife in a B.C. lake nearly six years ago.

The jury was unable to reach a verdict after a week of deliberations and on Tuesday the jury passed the court a note, saying the group was at an impasse.

B.C. Supreme Court Justice Ian Meiklem urged them to continue working, but by evening a mistrial was declared.

Beckett, 59, is accused of killing his Canadian wife Laura Letts-Beckett on Upper Arrow Lake near Revelstoke in 2010. At first the death was ruled an accident, but a year later he was charged with first-degree murder.

The trial ran four months before jurors began deliberating on April 6.

The judge and lawyers are expected to meet next Monday to decide what happens next.

Beckett is also charged with conspiring to kill witnesses linked to the trial.

That case is still pending.