Jury selection beginning
By John Joyce
Published in News on October 8, 2014 1:46 PM
Jury selection is scheduled to begin this afternoon in the first-degree murder trial of a man accused in connection with the death of his sister.
Gary Metzger, 57, and his wife, Ann, 37, were charged in 2011 with killing Jean Metzger Hubbard after a missing person's report led to the discovery of the 66-year-old's remains.
Goldsboro police contend that Metzger and his wife killed Ms. Hubbard, abandoned her car at the Walmart on Spence Avenue and hid her body in their house for several days before burying her under debris in a wooded area behind their home.
The Metzgers were home the day investigators came to search the property for the victim's body and fled when they saw the Wayne County Sheriff's Office helicopter closing in.
The couple were captured several hours later in the woods about a half-mile from their home.
Assistant District Attorney Matthew Delbridge is prosecuting the case on behalf of the state.
Attorney William W. Gerrans of Kinston will defend Metzger.
His wife will be tried separately.
According to police documents, Metzger confessed, on Aug. 5, 2011, to killing his sister a week earlier.
The defense is expected to argue that Metzger was the victim of physical, psychological and emotional abuse throughout his childhood, which might have influenced his behavior later in life.
The state has said the death penalty is not in play. If convicted, the maximum sentence Metzger could receive is life in prison without parole.