The process of picking a jury to hear a nearly 18-year-old Camden County murder case is under way in Brunswick, with the trial expected to begin next week.
Dennis Perry (pictured, left), 40, was arrested three years ago at his Jacksonville home and charged with the murder of 66-year-old Harold Swain and his wife, 62-year-old Thelma Swain. The two were shot to death while attending a Bible study class in March 1985 as eight other parishioners watched.
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Camden County Sheriff Bill Smith said that Perry, who was a resident of Georgia at the time, was a suspect in the investigation in the weeks after the murders, but "someone dropped the ball."
The sheriff assigned an investigator to the case full time about four years ago, but the break in the case came after the case was highlighted on the TV show "Unsolved Mysteries."
"Every time that I drove by the Rising Daughter Church, I would always think about Thelma and Harold," Smith told Channel 4 in January 2000.
Judge Amanda Williams indicated that she hopes to narrow the jury pool to 68 by the end of the week, then choose the 12 jurors and two alternates Monday and begin opening statements.
All 68 potential jurors were told to come Monday packed and prepared to stay for the week.