A Laurens County nurse charged with the murder of his wife just 59 days after their wedding will face another jury after Judge Jon Helton declared a mistrial Tuesday in the murder case against defendant Ben Whitaker.

A jury spent nearly two weeks hearing testimony in the case but could not reach a unanimous decision in their deliberations that began on Monday. The jury became deadlocked with an 11-1 vote after 8 hours of deliberations, but it is unknown whether the majority favored Whitaker’s acquittal or conviction.

The law stipulates in this case that a unanimous verdict had to be met, according to Judge Helton, and he implored the jury to do so but when that was impossible, the presiding judge declared the mistrial.

Whitaker is charged with murdering his wife Tiffani Scarborough Whitaker in June 2021. She was found deceased in the kitchen of their Penn Avenue home in Dublin.

Ben Whitaker’s attorney told the jury that his client suffered from depression, and was self-medicating with alcohol and prescription drugs, and that the combination caused an excessive level of serotonin which caused Whitaker’s brain to malfunction leaving him with fragmented memories of the day his wife was killed.

Prosecutors contend Scarborough- Whitaker, who was also a nurse, was shot four times in the back following an argument between the couple. Ben Whitaker was arrested in Wilkinson County the same day Dublin police found his wife’s body.

Another jury could be convened for a retrial as early as next January where a new panel of jurors will be presented with the case and a unanimous decision on a verdict deciding Ben Whitaker’s fate will be attempted.