Bechler jury selection to begin Dec. 4

Deepa Bharath

SANTA ANA -- Jury selection will begin Dec. 4 for the trial of Eric

Bechler, the 33-year-old man accused of murdering his wife during a

boating trip off the Newport Beach coast three years ago.

The trial, postponed several times since September, began Wednesday

morning with a hearing in Superior Court Judge Frank F. Fasel’s

courtroom. Prosecutor Debora Lloyd, defense attorney John Barnett and

Bechler were present.

Prosecutors believe Bechler killed his 38-year-old wife, Pegye, on

July 6, 1997, when the couple rented a powerboat to celebrate their fifth

wedding anniversary.

Bechler has been charged with one count of murder. Prosecutors say

Bechler wanted to collect on his wife’s $2.5-million life insurance

policy. Bechler has pleaded not guilty.

Bechler claims he was being towed on a body board behind the boat when

a giant wave knocked him off the board and underwater. When he surfaced,

he said, the boat -- piloted by his wife, an expert swimmer and

triathlete -- was circling in the distance, and Pegye had disappeared.

Her body was never found.

Bechler was arrested in October 1999 after investigators obtained a

tape of Bechler talking about the incident with his girlfriend, Tina New,

who cooperated with authorities by wearing a concealed recording device.

In the conversation, which took place in a crowded Mexican restaurant

the night of his arrest, Bechler spoke openly with New about his troubled

marriage, the boating trip with his wife and his future plans to flee to

Las Vegas.

A police report following the arrest suggests that Pegye Bechler was

killed with a dumbbell weight wielded by her husband.

Officials believe Bechler then weighted his wife’s body and threw her

overboard. Since his arrest, Bechler has been held in Orange County Jail

without bail.

Both attorneys declined to comment about the trial until it is

concluded.

The hearing will continue Tuesday.