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Jury selection enters day three in trial for John Jonchuck, who threw his daughter off bridge

A judge would like to get 70 potential jurors before moving on to further questioning.

CLEARWATER, Fla. — Wednesday marked day three of jury selection in John Jonchuck’s murder trial.

In an attempt not to taint the rest of the jury pool, the judge and attorneys continued individual questioning in a private room. 

Inside, the juror is asked about what they know about the case, whether they could put aside any bias, and if they could consider a “not guilty by reason of insanity” defense.

Some of the responses given on Wednesday:

  • “You’d have to be insane to do something like that.”
  • “It just grabs me by the gut when I see a child injured. Period. You know I have a son who’s been trying to conceive for the last couple years, and they just found out they’re having a baby and just that alone, it just…uhhh…tears at my heart strings that someone can do that.”
  • “There probably have been some cases when I heard that they’re using that insanity defense where it kind of feels like maybe it’s a get out of jail free card or something.”
  • When I was with my daughter, I had a moment, you know, a kind of emotional, just an emotional moment with her.”

The majority of potential jurors questioned Wednesday morning were dismissed.

As of Wednesday afternoon, 42 people had been cleared for the second round of questioning to begin Friday. Judge Chris Helinger wants to have 70.

The selection process is expected to last through the end of the week.

Timeline: Four years after he threw his daughter off a bridge, John Jonchuck's murder trial begins

Previous: Jury selection resumes in trial for man who threw his daughter off a bridge

A St. Petersburg police officer saw Jonchuck throw his 5-year-old daughter, Phoebe, off the Dick Misener Bridge in St. Petersburg just after midnight on Jan. 8, 2015. The bridge leads south to the Sunshine Skyway Bridge.

Phoebe Jonchuck's body was later recovered in Tampa Bay.

If John Jonchuck, 29, is found guilty of murder, he could spend life in prison.

The defense will not argue that Jonchuck didn't do it -- but rather that he is not guilty by reason of insanity. If he’s found not guilty by reason of insanity, Jonchuck will likely spend the rest of his life in a state mental hospital.

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