Opening statements up next

GREENVILLE – A jury of four men and eight women was selected Tuesday to determine if a former Rocky Mount funeral home director schemed with his mistress 20 months ago to kill his wife.

Opening statements in Mark Bowling’s murder trial are expected to begin at 2 p.m. Wednesday at the Pitt County Courthouse. Court officials will work through the morning to seat a third alternate juror, before moving forward with the trial.

Assistant District Attorney Keith Werner is expected to present evidence supporting the state’s contention that Bowling, 37, conspired with a mistress to kill his 45-year-old wife on Dec. 8, 2006.

A co-worker found Julie Bowling after she didn’t arrive for work that morning, shot to death in the garage of the Bowlings’ home on River Glenn. Records show Mark Bowling, the former owner of several area funeral operations, was scuba diving in Florida at the time of the shooting.

Rose Vincent, Bowling’s alleged lover, is expected to be the state’s lead witness in its case against Bowling. Vincent pleaded guilty in February to shooting Julie Bowling and pointed to Mark Bowling as the man who orchestrated the slaying.

In a written confession, Vincent said Bowling planned the shooting and told her killing his wife was the only way their romance could continue.

Vincent, 28, was offered softer charges and sentencing in exchange for her future testimony against Bowling. She is serving a minimum 29-year sentence.

Prosecutors also are likely to call a number of criminal investigators, medical experts and former employees of a local escort service to the stand. The potential witness list provided to jurors contained more than 60 names, indicating a potentially lengthy trial.

Defense attorneys and prosecutors will have taken more than two full days to agree upon a 12-person jury and three alternate jurors.

The jury selection process was hampered on Tuesday as some jurors reported hearing about the case during the past several months through media reports.

Three potential jurors were removed from the pool Tuesday after admitting they had doubts about Bowling’s innocence after reading newspaper articles about the murder. Most of the jurors interviewed, though, said they knew little or nothing about the case.

The trial was moved to Pitt County after Bowling’s defense team of Tommy Moore and Tom Sallenger argued earlier this year that sensational media coverage would make a fair trial in Nash County impossible.

Flanked by attorneys and about a half dozen family members, Bowling sat quietly throughout court proceedings, only occasionally looking over his shoulder toward his family and friends. Bowling faces a potential life sentence if convicted.