Jury selection is underway in Carroll County in the first of two trials scheduled for Michael Swanson. He’s the 18-year-old from Minnesota accused of killing two convenience store clerks and taking cash from the stores in Humboldt and Algona last November. The Humboldt County trial was moved to Carroll.

The case opened this morning with 150 potential jurors at the Carroll County Courthouse. Judge Thomas Bice informed the men and women they’ll need to decide the case based on the evidence and details provided in the courtroom and not the information that was reported in the media prior to the trial.

Jurors were informed they would also need to stay away from the Internet, including Facebook, and other media during the trial. Jury selection is expected to last through today and Judge Bice says the trial will last 5 to 7 days.

Swanson, who was 17 at the time of the killings, is charged with first-degree murder and first-degree robbery in the deaths of Vicky Bowman Hall of Burt and Sheila Myers of Humboldt last November 15th. The trial involving the death of Hall is scheduled to begin July 26 in Rock Rapids.

By Jeff Blankman, KCIM, Carroll