GRAND JUNCTION, Colo.—Jury selection is underway in Grand Junction in the trial of a man linked by DNA to the 1975 stabbing deaths of a mother and her 5-year-old daughter.
Sixty-five-year-old Jerry Nemnich faces two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of felony murder in the deaths of 24-year-old Linda Benson and her daughter, Kelley.
The Daily Sentinel reports that opening statements could begin by Thursday.
Police reopened the case in 2008 and arrested Nemnich in Longmont in April 2009. He had been working as a truck driver and has been described by his wife as “kind and loving.”
Police say blood found on Benson’s body, an ashtray, and a cereal box at the crime scene matches Nemnich’s DNA.
Nemnich has pleaded not guilty.
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Information from: The Daily Sentinel,
