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NORFOLK ISLAND, Australia (AP) - A jury of 12 Norfolk Islanders was sworn in Monday for the tiny South Pacific island's first murder trial since it was settled 151 years ago by descendants of the HMS Bounty mutineers.
New Zealander Glenn McNeill, a 29-year-old former cook on the island, pleaded not guilty in the Norfolk Island Supreme Court last week to killing Janelle Patton, a 28-year-old hotel dining room manager, in 2002.
Selecting the jury took more than five hours, as scores of potential jurors asked to be excused. More than a dozen told Chief Justice Mark Weinberg they knew either the defendant or the victim, or both. Others were connected, or even related, to possible witnesses in the trial.
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