Jury selection to begin Tuesday morning in Junkermeier trial

By Linda Vanderwerf

March 24, 2014 at 4:22 PM

WILLMAR - Jury selection is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the first-degree murder trial of Brok Junkermeier.

Junkermeier, 19, of Willmar, is accused of murdering 79-year-old Lila Warwick in July 2013 at her home on the east edge of Willmar.

In a pre-trial hearing Monday, lawyers for the prosecution and defense discussed several issues related to the trial process. The trial at the Kandiyohi County Courthouse in Willmar is expected to last about three weeks.

More than a dozen jurors were excused based on the answers they gave on juror questionnaires. Judge Donald Spilseth said he would consider a prosecution request to hold a hearing on aggravating factors to the crime, and he signed an order giving limited immunity to a friend who heard Junkermeier and Robert Warwick, 18, Lila Warwick’s grandson, who has also been indicted for first-degree murder in her death.

The friend allegedly heard the two defendants discussing the murder before and after it occurred.

By Linda Vanderwerf

In 42 years in the newspaper industry, Linda Vanderwerf has worked at several daily newspapers in Minnesota, including the Mesabi Daily News, now called the Mesabi Tribune in Virginia. Previously, she worked for the Las Cruces Sun-News in New Mexico and the Rapid City Journal in the Black Hills of South Dakota. She has been a reporter at the West Central Tribune for nearly 27 years.

Vanderwerf can be reached at email: lvanderwerf@wctrib.com or phone 320-214-4340

Jury selection to begin Tuesday morning in Junkermeier trial

WILLMAR -- Jury selection is scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in the first-degree murder trial of Brok Junkermeier. Junkermeier, 19, of Willmar, is accused of murdering 79-year-old Lila Warwick in July 2013 at her home on the east edge of Wil...