Trial starts for NC man accused of killing woman

GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) — Jury selection begins in Rutherfordton for a North Carolina man accused of killing a woman and dumping her body in South Carolina.

This is the second trial for Danny Hembree Jr. He was sentenced to die in November for killing 17-year-old Heather Catterton in 2009 and dumping her body near Clover, S.C.

Hembree is being tried on charges that he killed 30-year-old Randi Dean Saldana in 2009. Her burned body was found in Kings Mountain State Park, S.C. He does not face a death sentence in this trial.

The jury will go to Gastonia for the trial.

Hembree also is charged in the 1992 killing of 30-year-old Deborah Denise Ratchford. No trial has been scheduled yet. Police say they tied Hembree to the death while investigating the more recent cases.