Tuesday, January 10, 2012
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Murder trial in death of Brooklyn woman underway in Hudson Valley
GOSHEN - Jury selection began Monday in the second-degree murder trial of Michael Mele, the man accused of killing Brooklyn model Laura Garza in December 2008.
The case and trial in Orange County Court in Goshen have gained nationwide notoriety. Garza was a native of Texas who moved to New York City, where she reportedly met Mele, a former Town of Wallkill resident.
She was last seen with him in Newburgh on December 3, 2008. Her body was discovered near Scranton, PA in April 2010.
Mele is a registered level one sex offender and has been under repeated investigation for alleged sex crimes in the past.
During the time Garza was missing, law enforcement, volunteers and her family conducted exhaustive searches of the Orange and Sullivan County area in hopes of finding evident of her whereabouts.