SKOWHEGAN, Maine (NEWS CENTER)-- A man from Industry charged with killing a woman more than three decades ago is due to go on trial this week in Somerset County Superior Court.

Jury selection began Wednesday in the trial of Jay Mercier, who was arrested last year.

Mercier has pleaded not guilty to killing 20-year-old Rita St. Peter back in 1980. St. Peter's battered body was found on a roadside in Anson.

Police said they obtained DNA from a cigarette butt last year following an interview with Mercier, and that sample matched DNA from St. Peter's body.

Opening statements in the trial are expected on Thursday.

NEWS CENTER