Stephanie Klein-Davis | The Roanoke Times

Defense Attorney Neil Horn (left) confers with his client, Jeffery Martin Young, 31, in Roanoke County Circuit Court on Monday, the first day of Martin's murder trial in connection with the Southwest Roanoke County hit-and-run killing of attorney Thomas Farrell, on the morning of Jan. 28, 2008.

In the days leading up to Thomas Farrell's death, residents and business owners in southern Roanoke County repeatedly noticed Jeffery Martin Young and his dirty, dented Jeep parked in odd places throughout the Poages Mill and Cave Spring neighborhoods.

Roanoke County prosecutors say that after Farrell's body was found lying on Springlawn Avenue, Young was seen pouring water into and around his Jeep, which had severe front-end damage.

But Young's defense attorney said prosecutors don't have the forensic evidence to conclusively prove that Young's Jeep struck and killed Farrell, much less prove murder beyond a reasonable doubt.

Farrell was a medical malpractice attorney who was killed in a hit-and-run while out for a jog the morning of Jan. 28, 2008. Young, 31, a Floyd County resident with a history of mental illness, faces charges of first-degree murder and felony hit-and-run in Farrell's death.

Prosecutors also charged Young with felony murder -- causing a death accidently while committing a felony, in this instance hit-and-run -- as an alternative to the first-degree murder charge. He cannot be convicted of both.

As Young's highly publicized jury trial got under way Monday, Roanoke County Commonwealth's Attorney Randy Leach began laying the groundwork for an extensive, painstaking, circumstantial case intended to show that the defendant was repeatedly seen in the area, acting strangely before and after Farrell's death, and that his Jeep had front-end damage after Farrell's death that it didn't have beforehand.

Defense attorney Neil Horn told the jury that his client was diagnosed years ago with schizophrenia, a mental illness that can involve hallucinations and delusions. He used cross-examination to emphasize that, although Young's behavior often seemed strange, none of the witnesses who testified Monday ever saw him behave aggressively.

In the months leading up to trial, Horn filed notice that he intended to mount an insanity defense, but so far in the trial there has been no mention of such a tactic. Instead, Horn emphasized that no traces of Farrell's blood, hair or DNA were found on Young's Jeep, nor was any paint or other residue from the Jeep found on Farrell's body.

"We don't convict people because they look mean and they look crazy," Horn said.

During the lengthy jury selection Monday morning and afternoon, one potential juror was dismissed after telling Horn that Young's untamed curly hair and untrimmed beard reminded him of notorious mass murderer Charles Manson.

Witnesses called to the stand to testify about seeing him and his Jeep in Roanoke County described his appearance as alarming. Starting Jan. 24, residents and business owners saw Young stopped in parking lots, beside roads, or even in a crossover lane, often sitting behind the wheel staring straight ahead at nothing in particular.

Two witnesses, a business owner and a police officer, described separate instances in which they asked Young what he was doing and he replied that he was waiting for a friend.

Leach told the jury in his opening statement that the day Farrell's body was found, Young was seen in a parking lot pouring water into his Jeep, which was steaming and had heavy front-end damage. Eventually the Jeep was abandoned and towed off the lot.

Leach told the jury that Young was later seen in Floyd County driving his mother's car instead of the Jeep.

Floyd County authorities have said that two days after Farrell's death, Young struck a woman with a vehicle in a grocery store parking lot, then got out and attacked her with a stick.

He is charged with malicious wounding, assault on a police officer and two counts of obstruction of justice in Floyd County in connection with those accusations. Those charges have yet to go to trial, and it's unclear whether details of that case will be discussed in the Roanoke County proceeding.

Floyd County Commonwealth's Attorney Stephanie Shortt attended Monday's hearing.