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Last updated on Tuesday, August 2, 2016
(NASHVILLE) - A jury of eight women and four men will begin hearing opening statements today in the murder trial of Daniel Messel.
Three women and one man were chosen to serve as alternate jurors. Brown County Circuit Court Judge Judith Stewart will preside over the trial.
After opening statements from the lawyers, jurors will begin hearing testimony from witnesses from the prosecution.
Messell, 50, a print shop worker from Bloomington, is accused of killing 22-year-old Hannah Wilson two weeks before she was to graduate from Indiana University. A passerby found Wilson's body on April 24, 2015 in a parking lot laying face down at State Road 45 and Plum Creek Road near Helmsburg. Wilson had been reported missing the day before the discovery of her body. Messell's cell phone was found next to her body.
An autopsy determined that Wilson had died from blunt force injuries to the back of her head.
Messel was arrested at his home on Ison Road, where police say they found him carrying a clear trash bag containing jeans, shoes and a t-shirt stained with Wilson's blood. Wilson's blood was also found in his 2012 Kia Sportage.
Messel is charged with murder and with being a habitual criminal.
Defense attorney Dorie Maryan says the investigation was not thorough and officials disregarded other possible suspects in the case.
However Prosecutor Ted Adams says the evidence is overwhelming and the jury will see that and convict Messel of the crime.
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