Jury selection begins in 2006 rape, murder trial
Jury selection began today in the trial of a Fayetteville man accused of raping and killing his estranged wife after finding another man in her home.
Lawyers in the trial of Dexter Tremaine McRae began interviewing potential jurors about noon, according to court officials. Jury selection is expected to take a week or more.
McRae, 33, of the 200 block of Russellville Court, is accused of breaking into the home of Sophia Danielle McRae, raping her and killing her in September 2006.
If convicted, McRae could receive the death penalty.
Superior Court Judge Greg Bell told potential jurors the trial could take four to five weeks.
Dexter McRae was charged with first-degree murder after Fayetteville police found Sophia McRae, 24, dead in her home in the Arran Hills Mobile Home park off Bingham Drive on Sept. 21, 2006.
Investigators said Dexter McRae raped and stabbed her to death while in a jealous rage.
Dexter McRae, who was at the home when police arrived, told them that once he started stabbing her, he couldn't stop.
The couple had been having problems since July 2006, according to court documents, and their three children were in the home at the time of their mother's death.
Investigators previously said Dexter McRae drove by the home the night before the killing and saw a car parked outside.
He then drove to his home 8 miles away to get two knives and a crowbar. He returned to where Sophia McRae was staying and entered the home through a room where the children were sleeping.
Dexter McRae then hid in the doorway of a vacant bedroom for about two hours, until Sophia McRae's guest left.
Once the guest was gone, Dexter McRae confronted his estranged wife and hit her in the face, investigators said. He then cut her across the neck and forced her to have sex with him.
Afterward, Sophia McRae checked on the children and when she returned, she was stabbed in the neck, torso and back, investigators said.
Family members said the couple had been married about five years but had been together longer than that.
Dexter McRae had previously been charged with strangling his wife. Sophia McRae at one point had a restraining order on her estranged husband, according to court documents.
http://www.fayobserver.com/articles/2010/07/26/1016717?sac=Local
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