1 more hearing before homicide trial starts

Published 10:30 am Tuesday, April 6, 2010

With less than a week until the start of the homicide trial against Chad Jamie Gulbertson, prosecutors and defense counsel have one more pre-trial hearing scheduled to finish up any last-minute discussions about the logistics of the trial.

The hearing, scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday in Freeborn County District Court in Albert Lea, will be a time during which state and county prosecutors and Gulbertson’s lawyers will discuss the process of selecting a jury and what statements can be made to witnesses and jurors during the trial, among other issues.

Jury selection in the case begins Monday in Rice County.

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During the first pre-trial hearing about the case at the end of March, prosecutors and defense counsel finalized the questionnaire that potential jurors will receive during the trial.

The lawyers still needed to work through a few motions made by both parties.

Gulbertson, 38, is accused of murdering his estranged girlfriend Jody Lee Morrow last June. He faces five counts of murder, including three first-degree murder charges and two second-degree murder charges, after a grand jury indictment in October.

He was arrested June 21, 2009, after authorities found Morrow, 38, dead inside her trailer at 730 Larimore Circle in Albert Lea.

Reports from the Freeborn County medical examiner determined that Morrow’s death was caused by multiple blunt-force injuries to her head with a hammer, according to court documents.