The six week trial of Charles Severance, accused of three homicides in Alexandria, began in Fairfax County on Oct. 5. The first two days were centered around the selection of a jury for the six-week trial, a process that first involved determining which of the 100 selected candidates would be available and which had not heard of the case before that day. By the second day, the number of candidates had been whittled down to 19.
The first two days of the trial did raise questions and possibilities concerning the future of the proceedings. The defense revealed that they would attempt to prove that witnesses saying Severance was in the area of the homicides may have misidentified him for another local Alexandrian