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 Randy Taylor has pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder and
kidnapping in the case, which has riveted this rural area of western
Virginia since the girl disappeared last summer.
A jury of seven women and five men was selected Thursday to hear the
case.
The body of Alexis Murphy, 17, has never been found despite
widespread searches by law enforcement agencies, community
volunteers and her classmates, at Nelson County High School, where
she was a star volleyball player and a popular senior.
Taylor, a handyman and laborer, was arrested about a week after the
girl vanished, following a police search of his home and vehicle.
He has been charged in the case with one count of first-degree
murder, one count of first-degree murder in the commission of an
abduction and one count of abduction with intent to defile.
Authorities say he was one of the last people to see Alexis Murphy
alive. His image was picked up by a surveillance camera at a local
gas station, about the same time the teenager was there.
At the Nelson County Circuit Court on Thursday, Taylor was clean
shaven, wearing closely cropped hair and a button-down shirt and
slacks.
Alexis Murphy's mother and father sat on the front row of a group of
seats reserved for family members and friends.
After court adjourned, the girl's aunt said the family felt
comfortable with the jury and was ready for the trial to begin. "Now, we just want to get it started and it over with," Trina Murphy
said.
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Family members say the teenager vanished August 3, 2013, after
leaving home to go shopping in preparation for her senior picture.
Her car was found three days later, abandoned in the parking lot of
a movie theater in Charlottesville.
Authorities also say they have found her cell phone, but they have
not disclosed where they found it or what information they might
have gleaned from it.
Posters and fliers featuring the teen's photograph and the word
"Missing" have been attached to trees and windows and hung in
buildings throughout this close-knit mountainous region.
(Editing by Sharon Bernstein and Ken Wills)
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