Several high-profile trials get underway in courtrooms across Central New York this week.
In Oneida County Court, the trial begins Monday for the man accused of killing an Oneida County Sheriff’s deputy.
Jury selection is being held in Christian Patterson’s trial. Prosecutors say he shot and killed Deputy Kurt Wyman during a six-hour standoff on Knoxboro Road in Knoxboro last June.
Deputy Wyman was one of the officers on the scene that day. Investigators say Wyman tried to take Patterson into custody after the suspect was knocked down. But they say Patterson was able to reach for his gun and fire at Wyman, killing him.
In Madison County, jury selection also began Monday in the trial of Chauncey “Champ” Winchell. He is charged with killing 41-year-old Mark Murray, who was last seen in Syracuse in May 2008. Murray’s family says he was heading to his son’s lacrosse game when he vanished.
According to court documents, Murray was shot and killed during a robbery. Prosecutors say Winchell was trying to steal Murray's 1994 Pontiac Firebird. Murray’s remains were later found in Oneida.
Investigators found Winchell in Arizona where he was serving a jail sentence for a robbery there.
In Onondaga County court, the trial of Michael Iannettoni begins Monday as well. The Liverpool man is on trial for his alleged role in a deadly drunk driving crash.
Onondaga County Sheriff’s deputies say Iannettoni was drunk when he crashed head-on with another car on Buckley Road last January, killing 82-year-old Vincent Russo.
