Wehrung

        Opening statements begin this morning in the trial of a Springfield Township man accused of killing his girlfriend in 1963, when both were 15.

        On Monday, it took opposing attorneys about two hours to seat a Hamilton County Common Pleas Court jury of seven women, five men, and two female alternates in the trial of Michael Wehrung, now 54.

        Monday afternoon, jurors toured the Greenhills scene where Patricia Ann Rebholz was found beaten to death with a fence post, and they walked the route she took after leaving a dance on Aug. 8, 1963.

        Jurors were instructed to view the crime scene from several vantage points in the residential area near Ingram and Jennings roads — including the house nearby where Mr. Wehrung lived at the time.

        He is charged with second-degree murder in the popular Greenhills High cheerleader's death 38 years ago.

        The first prosecution witness today will be Patty's older brother, Mel, who was 17 when she was killed. He, Mr. Wehrung and other teens searched for Patty that night.

        Prosecutors contend Mr. Wehrung ambushed Patty between 9:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m. as she walked across the field toward his house. They say he was angry because she had gone to a neighborhood dance against his wishes and that she was planning to end their relationship.

Patricia Ann Rebholz

        Defense attorneys contend Mr. Wehrung was home at the time Patty was attacked and that he went looking for her when she failed to show up at his house.

        Mr. Wehrung was interviewed repeatedly by police at the time, but was never charged. The crime was one of the oldest unsolved murders in Hamilton County when it was reopened in 1999. Mr. Wehrung was indicted a year later.

        Some of the potential witnesses in the two-week trial knew Mr. Wehrung when he was a teen-ager. They include several childhood friends and former officials, including Hamilton County Coroner Frank Cleveland and former Hamilton County Prosecutor Ray Shannon.

        Also on Monday, defense attorneys renewed their requests to have the case removed from adult court and tried in juvenile court.

        But Judge Patrick Dinkelacker denied the request.

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