Jury selection starting in 1990s Conn. killings

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) - Jury selection is scheduled to begin for the trial of a New London man charged with killing two women in the late 1990s.

The proceedings are set to start Monday in New London Superior Court in the case of 40-year-old Dickie Anderson Jr. He was charged with the murders in 2010 during police cold case investigations. He denies all the allegations.

Police allege Anderson strangled 41-year-old Renee Pellegrino in her hometown of Waterford in 1997 and did the same to 29-year-old Michelle Comeau of Norwich, whose body was found near the Norwich-Franklin line in 1998. Authorities say both women had histories of drug abuse and prostitution.

Anderson's lawyers have an appeal pending before the state Appellate Court, challenging a judge's ruling to combine the two separate cases into one trial.