MAHONING COUNTY Jury selected in Austintown murder
Christopher Anderson, 35, faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A jury should soon begin hearing evidence in the trial of Christopher Anderson, accused of killing an Austintown woman last summer in her apartment.
Anderson, 35, of South Main Street, Austintown, is charged with murder in the June 2002 death of 22-year-old Amber Zurcher, who was found dead in her Compass West apartment.
Jury selection in the trial began Tuesday in the courtroom of Judge James C. Evans of Mahoning County Common Pleas Court. The process was to continue today.
If Anderson is convicted, he faces a mandatory sentence of 15 years to life in prison.
What happened
Austintown police have said Anderson was among seven people who went to Zurcher's apartment between 1 and 2 a.m. June 3, 2002, from a nearby sports bar. The get-together, during which alcohol apparently was served, ended around 3:30 a.m. Witnesses told police that Anderson was the last guest to leave the apartment.
About a half-hour later, one of Zurcher's neighbors reported hearing a scream for help in the apartment building. The neighbor didn't have a telephone and didn't call police.
Zurcher was found later that morning by her mother, lying on the living room floor in her apartment. Police said she had been strangled. An unplugged iron was found near the body, though police have not confirmed that the iron cord was the murder weapon. Court documents say only that Zurcher was strangled with a ligature, which is a cord, wire or rope.
Prosecutor's claims
Prosecutors have said they believe Anderson went back to the apartment and killed Zurcher. They said DNA samples taken from skin that was scraped from under Zurcher's fingernails matched DNA taken from Anderson.
DNA taken from saliva that was swabbed from the victim's chest also matched Anderson's, prosecutors have said.
Anderson was arrested in August 2002 at the Super 8 Motel in Liberty and has been in the county jail since then awaiting trial.
Defense
Anderson's attorney, Ronald D. Yarwood, filed documents in February indicating that Anderson could not have been the killer because he was at home with two other people at the time.
Yarwood and assistant prosecutor Jay Macejko have each submitted a list of some 40 potential witnesses. Many of the names are duplicated on the lists.
The witness lists include Trudy Bogan and Gary Goodrich, who both lived at the same address as Anderson. They are the people Anderson's statement says he was with at the time of the murder.
Yarwood has asked that once a jury is seated and before testimony begins, the panel be taken by court personnel to view the sports bar and the crime scene.
bjackson@vindy.com