SAN DIEGO -- A jury considering the fate of a man accused of killing a young Vista woman during a burglary four years ago completed its first full day of deliberations Tuesday without reaching a verdict.

Because of the Veterans Day holiday, deliberations will resume Thursday morning in the trial of Derlyn Ray Threats, who could face the death penalty if convicted of the Sept. 1, 2005, murder of 24-year-old Carolyn Neville.

Jurors got the case late Monday after a three-week trial in the courtroom of Judge K. Michael Kirkman.

In addition to murder, the 28-year-old defendant faces special circumstance allegations of murder during a robbery, murder during a burglary and murder by torture.

In his closing argument on Monday, prosecutor Patrick Espinoza said Threats tortured and killed Neville when she interrupted him burglarizing her home.

Neville -- who had returned home after dropping her 6-year-old son at school -- fought her attacker and at one point made it out of the house, but was pulled back in the home and tortured for 20 minutes before she was killed, Espinoza said.

The prosecutor said the victim's escape attempt made Threats mad and he killed her in anger. But defense attorney James Weintre said in his closing argument that a neighbor named "Tony" was the real killer.

Weintre said witnesses saw a large man leaving the victim's residence, and argued that Threats is much smaller than the perpetrator.

The attorney said "Tony" was the man a sheriff's deputy saw exiting the victim's back door, while Threats jumped onto the roof and fell into the front yard before being captured a few houses away.

Threats got into a situation he didn't expect but had no motive to kill Neville, his attorney said.