Jury selection began Monday and is expected to wrap-up today for the trial of Kelly Soo Park who is accused in a murder-for-hire plot against aspiring model Juliana Redding in Santa Monica.
The jury selection is taking place at the Criminal Courts Building in downtown Los Angeles.
Park pleaded not guilty at her arraignment July 6, 2010 for killing the 21-year-old who had moved to LA from Arizona whose body was discovered in her Santa Monica apartment on the 1500 block of Centinela in March 2008.
Park allegedly entered Redding’s apartment and physically assaulted her, causing her death.
She was arrested in Camarillo on June 17, 2010, along with 34-year-old Ronnie Wayne Case who she lived with, for their alleged involvement in the murder two years ago of Redding.
According to reports at the time of the arrest, prosecutors alleged that Redding previously dated Park’s boss, Dr. Munir Uwaydah, and he was close to launching a pharmaceutical business with Redding’s father, but the father backed out of the deal.
Park was said to have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Uwaydah before her arrest.
CBS reports Park’s defense team is attempting to establish that former Santa Monica resident and surfer John Gilmore could very well have been the killer, instead of Park. However, prosecutors have voiced their intention to demonstrate Gilmore’s “innocence,” insisting Park is indeed the killer.
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