Tuesday, February 21, 2006

A jury for Hugo

WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — A telegenic ex-con who has taunted prosecutors and has gained a small but avid following said he felt good as he arrived for trial Tuesday, nearly three years after a tip led police to the remains of at least five people buried in his backyard.
"I'm just ready, that's it," Hugo Selenski said as deputies brought him to the courthouse at 7:40 a.m., wearing a dress shirt and dark tie.
Selenski's murder trial has been eagerly anticipated in northeastern Pennsylvania, where the charismatic one-time bank robber has become something of a celebrity. He escaped from jail following his 2003 arrest, gave newspaper interviews in which he heaped scorn on prosecutors and breezily denied any knowledge of the corpses found on his property. Jury selection began Tuesday morning amid extraordinary courthouse security and was expected to last through the end of the week. Twelve jurors and four alternates were to be chosen from a pool of 150 potential jurors.

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