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Jury to decide fate of man accused of murdering mentally disabled woman

GREENSBURG, Pa. — A jury will decide if a western Pennsylvania man deserves the death penalty or life in prison for the torture killing of a mentally disabled woman who was forced to drink cleaning liquids before her body was dumped in a school parking lot.

Jury selection begins Monday in the penalty trial of Melvin Knight. Knight, 22, pleaded guilty in April in the February 2010 killing of 30-year-old Jennifer Daugherty.

He and five others were charged after Daugherty's body was found bound with Christmas lights after two days of abusive captivity inside a Greensburg apartment.

Police said Daugherty was beaten, forced to undress and made to drink a concoction of human waste, bleach and prescription drugs before being fatally stabbed.

Angela Marinucci, 19, was convicted in May of first-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison. Four more suspects await trial.