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As the families and friends of accused murderer, Kelly Soo Park, and murder victim, Juliana Redding, waited for the fifth day in a row for a jury verdict at Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in downtown Los Angeles, they ended the day once again disappointed. Four o’clock in the afternoon came and the jurors asked to be excused to retire for the day to go home. They filed out: the tall banker in the fine tailored suit and tie, the Spanish looking man with a strong accent in a neat blue golf shirt and slacks, the woman with the big red hair, the petite black woman wearing a black pants suit, the woman with dyed red wavy hair whose roots have grown out grey for at least an inch… So that any one of the people waiting for this verdict is probably thinking that if this jury could get on it and finally decide on a verdict, that woman could go and get her roots done.

Everyone is tired. Kelly Soo Park yawned this morning and leaned the side of her head and then her chin on her husband’s back. Tom Chronister, Kelly Soo’s retired-cop-of-a-husband since last November, sat with her in his black pants and greenish-black criss-cross pattern sport jacket at the very end of the back bench. Kelly Soo was in a pair of grey slacks and wearing a white sweater. She and Tom sat just behind her mother, aunt, and uncle, who spent the whole day reading their books and magazines.

At one time the buzzer in the court room buzzed twice and everyone got all excited only to soon get disappointed. Three buzzes means the jury has reached a verdict. Two buzzes only means they have a question.

Kelly Soo whispered in Tom’s ear; he smiled; they kissed; he patted her back. Up in front deputy district attorney Stacey Okun-Wiese’s red-burgundy hair looks beautiful in its curled layers from behind. She is wearing lovely grey high-heeled pumps. Yesterday she wore very high stiletto back patent leather pumps. Her tailored suits are always well cut to her slender figure. Now she’s done her job and given a fine performance and presentation of evidence to the jury. She waits…

Karen Thompson, the lead detective from the City of Santa Monica, gets up in her brown suit and walks from the front of the court room out the door with her usual braid down the back of her head. She has worked relentlessly on this case in its investigation and preparation. Now she too just waits.

Kelly Soo Park rolls up her sleeves. She and Tom kiss again. Now she’s whispering in his ear again. Usually indicted murder suspects are not sitting in the audience seats of the court room kissing their lovers; and that’s what makes this case just a little bit surreal. Usually murder suspects are handcuffed and seated in a jail outfit up at the defendants’ table. Usually they are not beautiful with long silky dark hair.

Tom’s cell phone went off at one point playing some music; he quickly squelched it. Kelly Soo raised her eyebrows and gave Tom a look as if to say, “Yipes!” After all the lecturing from the bailiff about turning off cell phones, one certainly does not want one’s cell phone going off. But then a few hours later, Greg Redding’s cell phone went off as well, except he wasn’t as quick to shut his off like Tom was. Greg seemed to have trouble for several seconds getting it to turn off.

The Redding family sits in the second row bench. That’s their usual spot now and they sit there every day. The bailiff guards that. Yesterday the bailiff told this writer to move out from the end of that row. The Press has to sit out on the periphery but also is allowed to sit in the rows with the Kelly Soo Park family. Everyone has figured out the turf and the families and supporters of each side politely tolerate one another. Everyone senses who’s on what side and eye contact between opposites in courteously avoided. Thus, there is no overt conflict.

Patricia Redding, the victim’s mother, wore her hair down for the first time yesterday and not in her usual variation on a French twist. Today she wore it down but in a clip at the nape of her neck. She’s a gorgeous lady, and a more mature woman who has been with the family all through the trial, has golden hair and attends every day. She sat today with her head resting on Patricia’s shoulder for a while. But many in the room seem to be tired. Greg Redding, the pharmacist and the victim’s father, sat with his wife and his son, Patrick, and other friends. Yesterday his dark haired sister Kris was with the family, but today she was not.

Kelly Soo’s older sister, Kim Park, came today wearing a black scoop-necked, short sleeved top and black pants with penny loafers. She sat in the back row near the camera crew. When she walked in she kissed Tom, who stood up, and then she kissed Kelly Soo, who as well stood up to greet her. Kim is a tall but a larger woman than Kelly Soo who carries more weight and is somewhat more portly. She has an androgynous physical appearance and manner of walking. Towards day’s end Kelly Soo left Tom and moved down to sit with Kim.