Jury selection starting in 1990s murder trial

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) - The state and defense are set to begin picking jurors in the trial of a New London man charged with murdering two women in the late 1990s.

Jury selection is scheduled to begin Monday in the trial of 40-year-old Dickie Anderson Jr. He will be going on trial in New London Superior Court for the killings of 41-year-old Renee Pellegrino in her hometown of Waterford in 1997 and 29-year-old Michelle Comeau of Norwich, whose body was found near the Norwich-Franklin line in 1998.

Anderson denies allegations that he strangled both women. His lawyers have an appeal pending before the state Appellate Court challenging a judge's decision to combine the separate cases into one trial.

He was charged with the murders in 2010 during police cold case investigations.