Jury selection under way in murder trial

Jury selection began Monday for the trial of a man accused of killing a Barrington Hills couple and burning their mansion down nearly 12 years ago.

Peter Hommerson, 62, faces a mandatory sentence of life in prison if convicted of killing Marvin Lichtman, 78, and his wife, Kay, 75.

Near the end of the court day Monday, four jurors for the panel of 12 and two alternates had been selected.

Attorneys in the case are expected to continue the selection process today.

Police say Hommerson was a contractor working for the Lichtmans at their home at 20 N. Ridge Road on Jan. 23, 1996.

They say Hommerson shot Kay Lichtman inside the home sometime during the afternoon, then ambushed her husband later as he returned from a trip to Florida.

The mansion was then set ablaze. Prosecutors say they have videotape of Hommerson buying gasoline he put into a portable container on the day of the murders.

Shortly after being questioned by police the day after the killings, Hommerson is believed to have fled to Mexico.

He was charged two months later after his wife told police she had lied about his whereabouts on the day the Lichtmans were slain.

After nearly a decade on the run, Hommerson was arrested in October 2005 after tourists told police they recognized him as the owner of a restaurant in Ixtapa, Mexico, after seeing a segment on the Lichtman murders on the television program "America's Most Wanted."

Hommerson has been held in the Lake County jail on $10 million bond since his arrest.