Metzger trial resumes Monday
By Kenneth Fine
Published in News on October 12, 2014 1:50 AM
Gary Metzger
After a jury was selected in the first-degree murder trial of a man charged in the 2011 death of his sister, the defendant, for a second time since proceedings began, spoke to Wayne County Senior Resident Superior Court Judge Arnold Jones.
Gary Metzger told the court that he played an active role in the jury selection process -- that he had signed off on the decisions ultimately expressed by his defense attorney Bill Gerrans.
Metzger, 57, and his wife, Ann, 37, were charged in the murder of 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.
They were captured several hours later in the woods about a half-mile from their home.
Mrs. Metzger is being tried separately.
The trial is scheduled to resume Monday morning inside the Wayne County Courthouse.
But before it does, Jones will impanel the nine women, three men and three alternates who will determine whether or not Metzger will spend the rest of his life in jail.
Among the jurors are:
* A middle-aged white male who told the court he retired after a career in the Air Force. The man acknowledged, while Gerrans was vetting him, that he had personal experience with mental illness.
* A middle-aged white female who did little talking during the vetting process.
* A middle-aged white female who disclosed that she was a housekeeper employed by Wayne County.
* A middle-aged white man who said he was adopted and has served on a jury before.
* A middle-aged black woman who told the court that her son was a police officer -- and that because of that fact, she assumed that law enforcement officials were honest. She also said, during the vetting process, that she had a nephew go to prison because his lawyer did not do his job properly.
* An elderly black woman who told the court her nephew was the victim of a homicide that was never solved. She is currently employed at Wayne Memorial Hospital, where she has worked for nearly 20 years.
* A young white woman who told the court she felt uncomfortable sitting in judgment of another person. She did, however, say that if she was selected as a juror, she would do her job. The woman, who said her father-in-law was a law enforcement officer, told the court she was not keen on having to view graphic photographs during the trial.
* An elderly black man who told the court his niece worked for the Wayne County Clerk of Court's Office.
* A middle-aged black woman who told the court she knows both the prosecutor, Assistant District Attorney Matthew Delbridge, and defense attorney Bill Gerrans from a trial that unfolded a year ago. She said the outcome of that case would not impact her ability to be fair an impartial.
* A middle-aged white woman who has lived both in the Rosewood community and Mount Olive. She told the court she is currently employed as a teacher and has, in the past, had a student murdered.
* A middle-aged white man who was asked few questions during the vetting process.
* A middle-aged black woman who is a former member of the Air Force and currently attends law school. She told the court that sitting on the jury would be an inconvenience, but that if she was chosen, she would do her duty.
The alternates include:
* A young white man who works for his family's golf cart business.
* A middle-aged white woman who works as a teacher.
* A middle-aged white woman who told the court her brother has served time in prison.