SKOWHEGAN, Maine (AP) - A 57-year-old Maine man is on trial in the beating death of a young woman 32 years ago.
Jay Mercier of Industry has pleaded not guilty to murder in the death of 20-year-old Rita St. Peter, whose battered body was found on the roadside in Anson in July 1980. Mercier was arrested last year after being linked to the killing through DNA evidence.
Mercier's trial gets under way Thursday in Somerset County Superior Court in Skowhegan.
The Morning Sentinel reported that a jury of nine women and five men, including alternates, was selected Wednesday.
If convicted, Mercier faces a sentence of 25 years to life in prison.
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