04/29/2006

Jurors seated in Unger case; trial starts Wednesday

by patrick sullivan

psullivan@record-eagle.com

BEULAH — One pair of prospective jurors is husband and wife.

Another possible juror for Mark Unger's first-degree murder trial worked as a carpenter at Watervale Resort, where Unger's wife was found dead in October 2003.

Another, who was dismissed, is Benzie County's elected Register of Deeds, and served on a board with a retired police officer who interviewed Unger during the investigation.

As prospective jurors arrived one at a time in court, it seemed many were related to, worked with, or had been good friends with a relative of someone connected to the case as jury selection dragged into its third day Friday.

Twelve jurors and three alternates were selected Friday afternoon and opening arguments are expected to begin Wednesday.

Unger, 45, is charged in the death of his 37-year-old wife. She died as the Detroit-area couple spent a weekend with their two children at the Lower Herring Lake resort south of Elberta while they were going through a divorce.

Many prospective jurors said they don't read newspapers or watch television news and heard little about the case from friends or family.

"I must have been asleep when this happened, because I didn't know anything about it until I got the notice to be here," one man said.

Another juror said he worked as a carpenter at Watervale for several years during the off-season. He said he knew little about the case when questioned by assistant Attorney General Donna Pendergast, who is prosecuting the case for Benzie County.

Defense attorney Robert Harrison questioned the man as if he were a witness in the case when he said he also worked on a boathouse at the resort. A central issue in the trial is expected to be whether Unger pushed his wife from a deck on top of a boathouse and then dragged her into the lake to die, or whether Florence Unger accidently fell over the railings on top of the deck.

"When you were on the deck at the boathouse at Watervale, did you notice anything about the railings?" Harrison asked the man.

"They were old," he said.

See Related Stories:
      Trial set to begin - April 25, 2006
      Motions filed as trial nears - April 18, 2006
      Unger trial promises a packed courtroom - April 15, 2006
      Murder suspect ordered to jail - March 11, 2006
      Judge will consider allowing evidence - January 21, 2006
      Judge won't dismiss case - December 11, 2005
      Unger trial still months away - October 25, 2005
      Unger will stand trial in death of wife - July 9, 2005
      Unger hearing ends; trial decision looms - June 28, 2005
      Unger's preliminary hearing on murder charges to proceed - June 26, 2005
      Judge refuses motion to dismiss in Unger trial - April 8, 2005
      Prosecutors' appeal hits dead end - January 6, 2005
      Prosecution rests in Unger case - December 14, 2004
      Unger ruling will come in 2005 - December 11, 2004
      Unger hearing delayed - October 29, 2004
      Doctor: Florence Unger's death no accident - September 9, 2004
      Unger's defense challenges expert witness appearance - July 8, 2004
      Preliminary hearing for Mark Unger begins - July 7, 2004
      Was body was moved before death? - February 1, 2004
      AG joins death probe - November 26, 2003
      Charges in death may take months - November 7, 2003
      Deaths put cops in $30K hole - October 31, 2003
      Woman died from trauma to the head - October 30, 2003
      Prosecutor wants kids taken from Unger home - October 28, 2003