Justin Cook | The Roanoke Times

James Reginald Jones II (left) talks to defense attorney Jimmy Turk in Radford Circuit Court on Monday.

RADFORD -- The trial of a man accused of fatally shooting another man during a robbery two years ago is expected to begin with jury selection this morning in Radford Circuit Court, after it was delayed Monday so attorneys could argue over evidence.

James Reginald Jones II, 24, is charged with capital murder in the death of 39-year-old Ken Henry on July 5, 2006.

The premeditated killing of someone during a robbery is a capital offense in Virginia. If convicted, a person receives life imprisonment or the death penalty.

Jones is also charged with use of a firearm in the commission of robbery, use of a firearm in the commission of murder, conspiracy to commit capital murder, robbery and conspiracy to commit robbery.

Henry was found bleeding and yelling for help that evening in the parking lot outside the Davis Street apartment Jones shared with his girlfriend, Kelly Brubeck, who at the time went by the name Kelly McKenzie Lance. Attorneys said Monday that she has begun using Brubeck, which is a family name.

Henry was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. Brubeck at first confessed to shooting him, then told Radford investigators Jones shot Henry twice to rob him of money and drugs. Brubeck also told investigators she lied at first to protect Jones because she loved him.

One of Jones' defense attorneys, Jimmy Turk, said police bought Brubeck's story "hook, line and sinker."

He argued during Monday's motions hearing that letters Jones sent Brubeck while they were in jail should not be admissible in court because his letters were written in response to letters Brubeck sent while she was cooperating with prosecutors as "an agent of the commonwealth."

Seven of the letters were never mailed to Brubeck but were found in Jones' property locker at the New River Valley Regional Jail. Circuit Court Judge Joey Showalter ruled that those letters will be admissible in court, but took under advisement the motion regarding the other letters.

Assistant Radford Commonwealth's Attorney Jason Annis said there are no confessions in the letters but that they contain threats toward Brubeck.

Inmates aren't allowed to write to each other, so Jones and Brubeck communicated by sending letters to people outside the jail and having those people mail the letters back, attorneys said.

Showalter also took under advisement a defense motion to withhold from evidence some letters Brubeck wrote Jones. In the letters, Turk said, Brubeck makes "self-serving" statements that include: "You know I didn't kill him."

Another of Jones' attorneys, assistant capital defender Tyson Daniel, asked the judge to strike the death penalty as a possible punishment option for Jones if he is convicted.

Daniel told the court that Radford Commonwealth's Attorney Chris Rehak told him last week that he had never had a substantial meeting with Brubeck. However, in a recorded phone call with her mother, Brubeck referred to having an all-day meeting with Rehak in February.

"Mr. Rehak is playing games with us and with the court," Daniel said.

Rehak said nothing exculpatory came out of the meeting so defense attorneys weren't entitled to know what was said. Showalter did not strike the death penalty.

Brubeck, 24, is charged with second-degree murder and other charges in connection with Henry's death. A trial date has not been scheduled.

Attorneys said Monday that Jones' trial is expected to last at least two weeks, and as many as 60 witnesses, including Brubeck, may be called.