MAHONING CO. MURDER TRIAL Jury to tour sites related to case

The Austintown man's first trial ended in a mistrial.
By BOB JACKSON
VINDICATOR COURTHOUSE REPORTER
YOUNGSTOWN -- Prosecutors will once again try to persuade a jury that Christopher Anderson strangled Amber Zurcher after a party in her Austintown apartment last year.
Anderson, 36, of South Main Street, Austintown, is on trial in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court, charged with murder. Lawyers began selecting jurors Tuesday to hear the case.
Jury selection was expected to be finished today, after which the panel is to be driven to view several sites related to the case, including Zurcher's former apartment on Compass West and a nearby bar, before hearing testimony.
Anderson's case first went to trial in May, but Judge James C. Evans declared a mistrial during the first day of testimony because a witness inadvertently blurted out information that the judge had previously ruled inadmissible at trial.
Anderson has been held in the county jail since then.
About the case
Prosecutors say Anderson was among a group of people who attended a party at Zurcher's apartment in June 2002.
After the group left, someone strangled Zurcher, who was found dead on her living room floor the next morning. She was 22.
Authorities have said Anderson's DNA was found under Zurcher's fingernails and also was taken from a bite wound on her left breast.
Anderson's lawyer, Ronald Yarwood, says Anderson was home at the time of the murder and has witnesses to prove it.
Judge Evans ruled Tuesday that jurors in this trial will be allowed to hear testimony from one of Anderson's former girlfriends, who is expected to testify that Anderson became enraged during a sexual encounter with her, bit her breast and tried to strangle her.
Prosecutors had hoped to introduce that evidence in the first trial without having the woman actually testify, but the judge would not allow it.
He ruled Tuesday that the information is admissible if the woman is testifying for the purpose of identifying Anderson.
Yarwood had filed a motion seeking to block that testimony, arguing it would be prejudicial to Anderson.
bjackson@vindy.com