Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

PROVIDENCE -- Jury selection began today in Superior Court for the trial of 26-year-old Gilbert Delestre, who is accused of beating 3-year-old Thomas J. Wright Jr. to death four years ago.

Delestre attended court in a black suit with a white shirt. His hair was cut short. He had requested that Superior Court Judge Netti C. Vogel tell potential jurors that he is in custody. Vogel said that she would not normally instruct the jury that the defendant is in custody -- defendants are usually unshackled before the jurors come into the court -- but she would tell them because he asked her to.

Before Delestre walked into court, his lawyer, Robert Mann, put a second tie around his neck and tied a knot and slipped it off so Delestre could wear it. Delestre is not allowed to have a tie in his possession while in custody of the sheriffs.

After a group of potential jurors was dismissed, the remaining jurors were instructed to fill out a survey and to return to court Tuesday morning. Vogel planned to meet back in court with attorneys at 2 p.m. today.

Delestre has been held at the Adult Correctional Institutions while awaiting trial.

He and his then- girlfriend, Katherine Bunnell, 25, are accused of beating Thomas Oct. 30, 2004 after they returned to their Woonsocket apartment after a night out and found a bowl of yogurt and milk Thomas had spilled on the living room floor.

Bunnell was convicted in May of second-degree murder and a charge of conspiracy to commit murder. She was sentenced to life in prison with the possibility of parole.

Delestre and Bunnell were given separate trials because they each accuse the other of inflicting the fatal injuries to the boy.

 Tags  child abuse Gilbert Delestre Katherine Bunnell murder trial Providence RI T.J. Wright Woonsocket

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