BRIDGETON, N.J. — A southern New Jersey jury has cleared a 48-year-old Millville man who was charged in the 1979 slaying of his half-brother.

After a five-week trial, the jury deliberated for only three hours Wednesday before pronouncing John Pompper not guilty of first-degree murder.

Prosecutors claimed Pompper strangled 23-year-old James Evans Ridgeway of Vineland after an argument. Ridgeway’s body was found in a wooded area on Oct. 26, 1979.

No one was charged at the time. Vineland police reopened the case in 2004, and Pompper was charged in July 2005 after Ridgeway’s body was exhumed for a second autopsy.

Pompper left the courtroom without commenting. His lawyer, Mark Roddy, said he headed to church.