Death Penalty Trial Begins For Man In Girlfriend's Slaying
WASHINGTON, Pa. (KDKA/AP) - Opening statements began Monday in the death penalty trial of a western Pennsylvania man charged in the stabbing death of his estranged girlfriend more than three years ago.
Twenty-six-year-old Jordan Clemons, of Pittsburgh, is charged in Washington County in the death of 21-year-old Karissa Kunco. Her body was found in a wooded area of Mount Pleasant Township in January 2012 a day after Kunco's family reported her missing.
During opening statements, prosecutor Chad Schneider told the jury Clemons killed Kunco in the back of her car and discarded her body.
He is asking for a first-degree murder conviction and the death penalty.
Defense attorney Brian Gorman has said he may argue Clemons had diminished mental capacity due to head injuries he sustained while playing football and during several vehicle accidents as well as years of drug abuse.
The jury hearing the case was picked in March.
Today in court, they heard the details of the protection from abuse order Kunco filed against Clemons one month before her body was found.
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