Opening statements begin Thursday morning in the Guntersville homicide trial

Guntersville, Ala. (WAFF) – Opening statements are scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. in the Jimmy O’Neill Spencer trial. He is the man accused of murdering three people, including a 7-year-old boy, in 2018.

Prosecutors and Spencer’s defense attorneys are set to lay out some of their plans and strategies for winning the case on Oct. 20.

It took them about three days to impanel a jury. The process included a written questionnaire, focus group interviews and interviews with potential jurors.

They finally hit the jury on Wednesday, whittling down 140 people to 12 jurors who will decide the outcome of the case.

It was a comprehensive process because there are so many joints. Spencer faces seven counts of first degree murder. If convicted, he faces either life in prison without parole or the death penalty.

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