A jury has been selected in the Fazzino murder trial

A jury of nine men and six women from Winneshiek County has been picked to hear testimony in the first degree murder trial of Alexander Fazzino of Boone.

88 potential jurors were called to the Winneshiek County Courthouse on Monday morning.  From those, 37 prospective jurors were selected.  Defense attorneys and prosecuting attorneys on Tuesday morning took turns striking names from the juror pool until 15 jurors remained.

All 15 of those jurors will hear testimony in the trial, which is expected to last for at least two weeks.  When the case goes to the jury, the three alternate jurors will not deliberate.

The case now proceeds with opening arguments Tuesday from both prosecutors and defense attorneys.  The prosecution will then call witnesses and present evidence, followed by defense attorneys calling their own witnesses.

The body of Fazzino's wife, Emily, was found in the bathtub of the family's home in Boone in January of 2012.  Police originally ruled the death a suicide, but Fazzino was arrested on first degree murder charges in April of 2013.  The trial has been moved to Winneshiek County on a change of venue because of pretrial publicity in Boone.