THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Tuesday, January 14, 1997 TAG: 9701140199
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B7 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: METRO BRIEFS
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: 26 lines
Jury selection began Monday in the first-degree murder trial of Kevin Stanley Painter, the 19-year-old former Norview High School student accused of raping and strangling 17-year-old Amber M. Zajac in August of 1995.
The trial is expected to last at least one week, but could go longer. Judge John K. Moore ruled Monday that extensive questioning of jurors about DNA testimony and pre-trial publicity would be allowed.
Painter was charged when a DNA analysis of his blood matched DNA recovered from semen found in Zajac's body. Painter eventually admitted to having sex with Zajac on the night of her death but says that Zajac was alive when they parted.
Zajac, a summer school student at Kellam High School, was found dead Aug. 8 on a path through a woods that separated two Virginia Beach subdivisions. She had been raped and strangled. ILLUSTRATION: Photo
Amber M. Zajac
KEYWORDS: MURDER RAPE JUVENILE TRIAL STRANGULATION