JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – It took more than two days and the interviewing of nearly 100 prospective jurors to find 14 men and women to sit in judgment of a man accused of killing a Jacksonville woman eight years ago.
The jury was seated Wednesday afternoon and opening statements began in what will be the first of several murder trials of Paul Durousseau.
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Durousseau, now 36, is accused of killing Tyresa Mack -- a 24-year-old mother of three children -- in 1999. He is also charged with killing five other Jacksonville women prior to his arrest in 2003.
Durousseau is also suspected of killing a woman in Columbus, Ga. -- where he was stationed while in the Army -- in September 1997. Officials in Germany, where he was stationed from 1993 to 1995, have reopened unsolved homicide cases there and are investigating whether Durousseau may have been involved.
Police said Durousseau, a cab driver, befriended young women he picked up and then killed them.
Durousseau was arrested in February 2003. By September of that year, he was indicted on six separate counts of first-degree murder.
Prosecutors said Durousseau lived near Mack when she was raped and killed in her apartment but was not a suspect in her killing until after his arrest on five other slayings.
Investigators said DNA gathered during the investigations in 2002 and 2003 tied him to Mack's slaying.
Both the persecution and the defense made their opening statements shortly after 3:30 p.m. Wednesday.
The prosecution said it could prove without a shadow of a doubt that Durousseau killed Mack.
With sperm samples taken from Mack's body and cheek swabs later taken from Durousseau, prosecutors said they have the forensic evidence that would prove Durousseau as the woman's killer.
"The statistical importance of that testing -- you will learn that that particular profile frequency, and those 13 sites for those 28 readings, that particular frequency occurs one time in the African American population out of every 30 quadrillion," said prosecutor Mac Heavner.
The defense contested that sex is not a crime. Durousseau's defense attorney said the man did have sex with Mack but that there is no physical evidence that he killed her.
"The evidence will show that the sexual intercourse did not occur at the time that they were killed," the defense attorney said.
In addition to hearing both side's opening statements, the victim's sister was called to testify before the jury on Wednesday.
The slaying of Mack is the first case to come to trial for Durousseau.
Court is expected to resume Thursday at 9:30 a.m.
Channel 4 will follow the trial each day until a verdict is reached. Watch for updates each day this week on the local station.
Previous Stories:
- September 4, 2003: Grand Jury Indicts Suspected Serial Killer For Sixth Murder
- August 27, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Faces One More Murder Charge
- June 20, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Once Drove School Bus
- June 19, 2003: Durousseau Indicted: 5 Counts Of First-Degree Murder
- June 18, 2003: Family Of Murder Victims Mourn June 18, 2003: Gator City Taxi President Comes To Town For Answers
- June 17, 2003: Father Of Murder Victim Knows Accused Killer
- June 17, 2003: Suspected Serial Killer Under Arrest