Trial set to begin for skater Kerrigan's brother

[May 16, 2011]  WOBURN, Mass. (AP) -- Opening statements in the manslaughter trial of Olympic skater Nancy Kerrigan's brother are expected to give Massachusetts jurors two widely differing accounts of the death of Kerrigan's father.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers are scheduled to give their statements to a jury Monday in Woburn Superior Court.

Prosecutors say 70-year-old Daniel Kerrigan died of cardiac dysrhythmia -- a loss or interruption of a normal heartbeat that can lead to cardiac arrest -- after a violent physical struggle with his son, Mark Kerrigan, in January 2010.

Nancy Kerrigan and her family have supported Mark Kerrigan. They've said Daniel Kerrigan died of a longstanding heart condition, not because of the fight with his son.

The trial is expected to last about a week.

[Associated Press]

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