Jury selection continues in Worley case

3/7/2018
BLADE STAFF

Jury selection will continue Wednesday in the capital murder trial for James D. Worley, the man accused of killing 20-year-old Sierah Joughin in July, 2016.

Fulton County Common Pleas Judge Jeffrey Robinson and attorneys for the prosecution and defense are whittling down the pool to seat a jury of 18 —12 regular jurors and six alternates.

More than 100 jurors answered questions Tuesday about their financial and family constraints to serving on a potentially three-week-long trial, as well as about their professional histories and previous experience with the criminal justice system.

Jury questioning could last all week. The trial is expected to last two to three weeks after testimony begins Monday.

Worley, 58, of rural Delta, is accused of kidnapping and killing Ms. Joughin, a Metamora resident, after she split off from her boyfriend on a bike ride home on July 19, 2016. Her remains were found several days later in a shallow grave in a cornfield. 

He is charged with two counts of aggravated murder — both with death-penalty specifications — as well as four counts of kidnapping, two counts each of murder, abduction, felonious assault, and having weapons while under disability, and one count each of possessing criminal tools, gross abuse of a corpse, and tampering with evidence.