Jurors will be selected this week to hear the case of a Willow Street man accused of killing his mother-in-law in 2007.

Lancaster County residents will be questioned as potential jurors beginning this morning before County Judge Jeffery D. Wright. The selection process is expected to last the rest of the week.

Shannon Hess, 31, is charged with stabbing and beating to death 45-year-old Barbara Fritchman inside 53 E. Boehms Road in Pequea Township.

Prosecutors allege Hess killed Fritchman because she was in contact with a man Hess's wife was supposedly seeing. Court documents say Hess was spying on his wife, Veronica, and Fritchman was going to tell her daughter about him doing so.

The Nov. 23, 2007, killing is believed to be the first homicide in Pequea Township history.

Assistant District Attorney Mark Fetterman is prosecuting the case. He said Wednesday he isn't seeking the death penalty.

Attorney Alan Goldberg is defending Hess, who has been at Lancaster County Prison since his arrest.

Testimony is expected to begin early next week.

Frichtman lived with the Hesses and their two children, having moved from Texas months earlier. Veronica Hess was working and the children were with Shannon Hess's parents when Fritchman was killed.

Shannon Hess gave conflicting statements to police immediately after Fritchman was found dead in her home, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

One story he told police was that he left to run errands and returned to find Fritchman dead. He called 911 about 1:30 p.m., according to police. Responding officers found Fritchman face-down in a pool of blood, already deceased.

She had been stabbed and bludgeoned, possibly with a crowbar, according to police. Blood was splattered on the walls, and a shoe print was visible on Fritchman's back, indicating she had been stepped on.

Hess was arrested on the night of Nov. 29, 2007, and charged with criminal homicide.

E-mail: bhambright@lnpnews.com