Jury Hears Death Penalty Case Against Ex-Marine

Prosecutors seeking the death penalty against an ex-Marine have begun making their case to a federal jury, saying he killed a fellow servicemember as part of a series of violent attacks against young women.

Jorge Torrez is charged with premeditated murder in federal court in Alexandria, and could face the death penalty if convicted in the July 2009 death of Amanda Snell. The 20-year-old Navy sailor was found dead in her barracks at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington.

A defense attorney told the jury during opening statements Monday that the evidence implicating Torrez is shoddy.

Authorities focused on Torrez, who lived in the same barracks, in 2010 after he was arrested in Arlington for rape and multiple abductions. Torrez is already serving a life sentence for those crimes.