KNOXVILLE – Jury selection is under way in Knoxville for the trial of Howard Hawk Willis, charged in the dismemberment killing of two Georgia teens.
WJHL-TV in Johnson City reported Judge Jon Blackwood told potential jurors Tuesday morning that Willis would be acting as his own attorney. The court appointed attorney Jim Bowman as elbow counsel for Willis.
Once the panel is chosen, the first-degree murder trial of Willis is scheduled to begin June 14 in Jonesborough, and the state will seek the death penalty if prosecutors win a conviction.
The bodies of Adam Crismer and Samantha Leming, of Chickamauga, Ga., were found in a Johnson City rental storage unit after Crismer’s severed head was found in Boone Lake and his hands were found nearby in October 2002.
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Article: Tennessee: Jury selection begins for last trial in Knoxville slayings