<!--Rick Pfeiffer--><table width="234" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" background="http://static.cnhi.zope.net/flashpromo/niagaragazette/images/byline_234x60.jpg" height="60"><tr><td><div align="center"><font size="3" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">By Rick Pfeiffer</font><font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><br /></font><font size="1" face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif"><a href="mailto:rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com">rick.pfeiffer@niagara-gazette.com</a></font></div></td></tr></table>
Opening statements are set for later this morning in the murder trial of a man accused of killing his wife in what prosecutors have called one of the most brutal homicides in recent memory.
Lawyers spent most of the day Monday selecting a jury of seven women and five men to hear the case against Robert Johnson. He is accused of stabbing his wife, Ahkenya, to death in their Jordan Gardens apartment on Jan. 17.
Investigators have said Ahkenya’s body was found in the Jordan Gardens apartment she shared with her husband with multiple stab wounds from several different knives. Prosecutors said the attack was so violent that three of the knives used in the murder were broken off in the victim’s body when police arrived.
An autopsy showed Ahkenya had suffered over 41 separate stab wounds. Her head had been almost decapitated from a slashing wound to the throat.
Johnson, 26, formerly of the Falls and now of Buffalo, has been jailed in lieu of bail of $200,000 cash or $400,000 property since his arrest Feb. 17 on charges of second-degree murder and criminal possession of a weapon.
He has denied any involvement in his wife’s slaying, telling investigators he discovered her body after returning home from a trip to the barber shop.
The case is expected to rely heavily on DNA testing results. In late June, prosecutors confirmed between 27 and 29 pieces of evidence had been subjected to DNA testing. Since then, additional DNA testing has been performed on other possible items of evidence in the case.
