Gillis jury pool cut by 5
Print
Email
Save
Share
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Reddit
State District Judge Bonnie Jackson excused five more potential jurors Monday as the capital murder trial of accused serial killer Sean Vincent Gillis entered its second week.
No jurors have been seated after six days of jury selection. Prospective jurors are being questioned in groups of 14.
Twelve of the first group of potential jurors were excused.
So far, eight of the second group have been dismissed.
A third group of prospective jurors will be brought in this afternoon for questioning.
The 45-year-old Gillis is on trial for first-degree murder in the 2004 strangulation death of Donna Bennett Johnston of Baton Rouge. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Most of the potential jurors excused Monday were dismissed because of their extreme views, either for or against, the death penalty.
Johnston’s mutilated body was found in February 2004 in a secluded area off Ben Hur Road.
Gillis, of Baton Rouge, has confessed to killing eight south Louisiana women between 1994 and 2004 and has been booked in seven of those deaths.
An investigation into the eighth killing is ongoing.
Gillis pleaded guilty last summer in West Baton Rouge Parish to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison in the 1999 death of Joyce Williams.
She was from Baton Rouge, but authorities said Gillis killed her near Port Allen.
 | ||||
| Most Popular | Most Emailed | Hot Topics | ||
