Norfolk Island murder trial struggles to select jury

NORFOLK ISLAND, Australia, Feb 5 (Reuters) Finding a jury for the first murder trial in 150 years on Norfolk Island was never going to be easy -- residents are mainly descendants of a small band of 18th-century mutineers, related or know everyone.

Of the 100 potential jurors summonsed today to the small court house on Norfolk Island off Australia's east coast, 72 had excuses why they couldn't be a part of the jury.

Some said they knew the victim or her family, some said they knew the accused or his family, and others said they had worked with someone who knew either the victim or the accused.

Some openly admitted they had already made up their mind about the guilt or innocence of the accused.

One woman who had been booked to make the sandwiches for the jury's lunch was told she did not have a strong enough case to be excused and said she could find someone else to make sandwiches.

New Zealander Glenn McNeill, 29, has pleaded not guilty to charges of brutally murdering Australian restaurant manager Janelle Patton in March 2002.

Addressing the jury pool in the Norfolk Island Supreme Court, Judge Mark Weinberg said the 12 jurors picked would have to decide the case solely on evidence and disregard any information they may have heard in the close-knit community of about 1,600.

''You would have had to be living on another planet not to have heard anything at all about this case before,'' he said.

By the end of the day 12 jurors were chosen.

The brutality of Patton's murder has shocked Norfolk residents, many of them descendants of 18th-century mutineers from the British warship Bounty. The tiny Australian territory, once a harsh South Pacific penal colony, lies about 1,600 km east of tropical Queensland state.

Patton's battered body was found wrapped in black plastic at a picnic spot a day after the 29-year-old vanished while walking along a quiet island road.

A forensic pathologist told the court that Patton had suffered 64 separate injuries, including a stab wound to the chest and a fractured skull and pelvis.

She also had hand injuries which indicated she had tried to fight off a sustained and ''extremely violent'' assault, the pathologist said.

The murder trial was adjourned until Wednesday when the prosecution and defence will make their opening statements.

REUTERS DKA RN1523