Trial continues for man charged with murders

By PEGGY SINKOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Opening statements were expected to begin today in the capital murder trial of a Champion man.
Court officials said a jury was selected Tuesday, shortly after Judge Peter Kontos of Trumbull County Common Pleas Court denied a request by defense attorneys to have Stanley Adams' murder trial moved to another county.
Ted Macejko Jr. and Mark Lavelle, court-appointed attorneys representing Adams, filed a motion Monday asking the court to have the trial moved because of local pretrial publicity.
At hearing: Judge Kontos, however, had a hearing Tuesday and asked the potential jurors if they have read any news articles related to the trial -- and all said they did not.
A few of the potential jurors said they saw Adams' picture on the front of a newspaper Sunday but they did not read the article or the headline.
Attorneys have spent about two weeks questioning potential jurors for Adams' double-murder trial.
Court officials think it will take about three weeks for the prosecution and defense to present evidence in the case.
Charges: Adams faces charges of aggravated murder in the deaths of Esther Cook, 43, and her 12-year-old daughter, Ashley. Their bodies were found Oct. 11, 1999, in their Dickey Avenue home.
The charges carry specifications that the killings occurred in conjunction with other crimes. Adams also is charged with three counts of rape and one count each of kidnapping and aggravated burglary.
If convicted of all the charges, he could face the death penalty. Adams is being held in the county jail without bond.