Behrman murder trial begins today

After six years, the mystery surrounding then-19-year-old IU student Jill Behrman's disappearance and death might finally be solved.\nThe trial of John R. Myers II -- the Ellettsville man who was indicted for Behrman's death in April by a Morgan County grand jury -- begins today. Behrman's parents are expected to testify Wednesday.\nMyers, 30, has pleaded not guilty to the count of murder against him. \nThe trial, which is scheduled to run Monday through Saturday, is expected to last between two and four weeks. Fifteen jurors have been selected to listen to testimony. The final 12 will be chosen at the end of the presentation of evidence by both the plaintiff and the defense.\nThe first day of the trial will start with a hearing on a series of motions, including the belated notice of alibi that Myers' lawyer, Patrick Baker, Indianapolis, filed for his client Sept. 25, well past the Aug. 1 deadline for trial evidence.\nIn the motion, Baker argued that after reviewing the grand jury's extensive transcript, which is 6,185 pages long, he found evidence of his client's alibi for the day Behrman went missing. Many of the details of the grand jury investigation, which include interviews with more than 90 witnesses, remain sealed to the public. \nThough the details of the alibi were not released, Baker said in the motion that the alibi involves telephone records of a conversation or conversations between Myers and a female witness who was deposed by the defense Aug. 11.\nThrough "third-party requests" at the end of August, the defense was able to retrieve these telephone records from the Smithville Telephone Company of Ellettsville and CenturyTel of Tennessee.\nIf Morgan Superior Court Judge Christopher Burnham agrees to include the alibi as evidence in the trial, it will become Exhibit A.\nOpening arguments will be held at the end of the motion hearing, which David Remondini, the media relations representative for the Indiana Supreme Court, said might not start until Monday afternoon or even Tuesday morning. \nBehrman's mother Marilyn said she and her husband are scheduled to testify for the court Wednesday.\nAfter both the state and the defense give their opening statements, the state, represented by Morgan County prosecutor Steven Sonnega, will begin to present its evidence to the court and the jury. \nBehrman went missing May 31, 2000, during a morning bike ride through the countryside surrounding the Bloomington area. Her bike was found two days later in a cornfield outside of Ellettsville. \nAlmost three years after her disappearance, hunters in rural Morgan County stumbled upon Behrman's skeletal remains and a grand jury began to investigate her death.\nAccording to the Indiana State Police, Myers became a person of interest in December 2004.