Trial of "friend" in torture, slaying of mentally disabled woman begins

Seventeen year-old Angela Marinucci was "the prime instigator" in the torture and slaying of mentally disabled woman Jennifer Daughtery, a prosecutor said Monday at the opening of Marinucci's trial. Marinucci, now 18, is charged with first-degree murder and other crimes in the death of Daugherty, 30, last year. Daugherty was bound with Christmas decorations, beaten, forced to drink urine and detergent and then stabbed to death in February 2010, prosecutors said. Her body was found two days later, stuffed into a plastic garbage container and shoved beneath a truck in a snow-covered school parking lot.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck told the jury that Marinucci was present for much of the time Daugherty was tortured and killed in a dingy apartment in Greensburg, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh. Marinucci sometimes stayed there with her boyfriend, 25-year-old Ricky Smyrnes, and four other adults - all of whom are charged in the slaying and awaiting trial.

Peck intends to pursue the death penalty against Smyrnes, Knight, and Knight's girlfriend, Amber Meidinger, 21. He doesn't intend to seek the death penalty against the two other defendants - Peggy Miller, 28, and Robert Masters, 36.

Peck can't pursue the death penalty against Marinucci, because she was a juvenile at the time of the crime. Defense Attorney Michael DeMatt told the jury Smyrnes was the driving force for the killing. "You're gonna hear evidence that doesn't fit

Angela Marinucci's mug shot. Marinucci and five others were charged Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Amber Meidinger's mug shot. Meidinger and five others were charged Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Melvin Knight's mug shot. Knight and five others were charged Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of Jennifer Daugherty, 30, whose body was found a day earlier at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Ricky Smyrnes's mug shot. Smyrnes and five others were charged Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of Jennifer Daugherty, 30, whose body was found a day earlier at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Peggy Darlene Miller's mug shot. Miller and five others were charged Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Robert Loren Masters Jr.'s mug shot. Masters and five others were charged Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Robert Loren Masters Jr., top left, Peggy Darlene Miller, Ricky Smyrnes, Angela Marinucci, bottom left, Melvin Knight, and Amber Meidinger, are shown. The six suspects were charged Friday, Feb. 12, 2010 with criminal homicide, kidnapping and related charges in the death of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty, whose body was found Thursday at Greensburg Salem Middle School, about 30 miles east of Pittsburgh.

Joy Burkholder talks about her sister Jennifer Daugherty Feb. 12, 2010 in Greensburg, Pa. Daugherty underwent horrors before she died, say police. Bound with Christmas decorations, she was hit with a towel rack, vacuum cleaner and crutch, before being stabbed to death. Six suspects are in custody, including some people she had apparently called her friends.

Joy Burkholder leaves with her notebook after talking to the media, about her sister Jennifer Daugherty, Feb. 12, 2010 in Greensburg, Pa. Daugherty, a mentally disabled woman, was forced to eat detergent and urine and to write her own suicide note before she was stabbed to death and dumped in a school parking lot, police said. Six suspects are in custody, including some people she had apparently called her friends.

Westmoreland County District Attorney John Peck talks about charges against the six in connection with the death of Jennifer Daugherty Feb. 12, 2010 in Greensburg, Pa.

Floria Headen says she heard "body slamming" and screaming on Feb. 12, 2010, the night police say Jennifer Daugherty was killed in the second floor apartment above Headen's. Some of the suspects live there.