Michael Roseboro, handcuffed and dressed in a black suit, walked into a Lancaster County courtroom Monday to face trial for his wife's death.

Roseboro, 42, a director of his family's funeral home in Denver, is charged with killing his wife, Jan, one year ago, in July 2008.

On Monday, attorneys for both sides began picking a jury — a process that is expected to take several days.

Three jurors had been selected by the end of the day on Monday, and jury selection was expected to resume this morning.

The trial itself is expected to last between two and three weeks, attorneys said, with more than 200 witnesses on the list to testify.

Jan Roseboro, a 45-year-old mother of four children, was found dead next to the pool in the backyard of the couple's Reinholds home.

Roseboro told police his wife had been outside by the pool reading that evening and that when he went out to check on her around 11 p.m., she was in the water. He said he pulled her out, called 911 and tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate her.

The death quickly sparked public interest when an autopsy revealed that Mrs. Roseboro had been beaten, strangled and drowned.

Within days, prosecutors charged Roseboro with the homicide after another woman told them she had been having an extramarital affair with the funeral director and was pregnant with his child.

On Monday, potential jurors were asked a number of similar questions by the attorneys, including:

Could they be fair and impartial?

Could they decide the case based on the testimony presented in the courtroom and the law as explained by Judge James P. Cullen?

Most said they could.

Defense attorney Allan Sodomsky, who is representing Roseboro, asked potential jurors if they would be biased against his client if they heard that Roseboro had one or more extramarital affairs.

Most said they would not be.

But some said they would have concerns if Roseboro did not take the witness stand in his own defense, despite the judge's admonition that the prosecution carries the entire burden of proof.

Roseboro, clean-shaven and wearing glasses, talked quietly with his attorneys during the jury selection process.

Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman, who is seeking a conviction of first-degree murder, asked potential jurors if they understood they could render a guilty verdict if the evidence was entirely circumstantial.

Most answered that they did understand.

At the time of Roseboro's arrest, Stedman said Roseboro was "obsessed" with the other woman and killed his wife to avoid "a messy divorce."

Among those scheduled to testify is Angela Funk, the woman with whom Roseboro was having an affair. She told police Roseboro was supposed to tell his wife about their affair on the night she died.

Funk, who reportedly has since given birth to a son, is not charged with any crime.

Sodomsky has said Roseboro and his wife were happily married and suggested a random intruder entered the fenced-in pool area.

Three of the couple's four children were inside the home asleep at the time of their mother's death. Their fourth and oldest child was at a friend's house.

E-mail: jkelley@lnpnews.com