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Jury Selection Begins For Man Accused Of Killing 3 Family Members

GREENSBURG (KDKA) - The jury selection process has begun for a man accused of killing three family members in 2009.

Once seated, the jury will hear the case and they will have to decide if Kevin Murphy, 52, is guilty of killing his mother, sister and aunt.

If so, they also have to determine is he should get the death penalty or spend the rest of his life in prison.

His attorneys will try to convince a Westmoreland County jury that it was someone else who killed the Saltsburg man's mother, sister and aunt.

The murders happened in April 2009 at Ferguson Glass, which is a business run by the family.

Doris Murphy, 61, Kris Murphy, 43, and Edith Tietge, 81, were all shot execution-style.

Prosecutors allege that the women didn't approve of Kevin Murphy's relationship with a married woman.

Ferguson Glass has reopened in the years since the murder.

Defense attorneys are expected to take jurors to visit the scene of the crime, which is something Saint Vincent College criminology professor Bruce Antkowiak calls unusual, but not unreasonable.

The trial is expected to last up to four weeks, if it reaches the need for a penalty phase.

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