By Roger Harnack
The Chronicle

     OKANOGAN - The list of potential jurors was winnowed to 68 during Day 2 of the trial of two defendants charged in connection with the death of Michelle Kitterman in March 2009.
     Attorneys for the state and for "Tonasket" Tansy Fay-Arwen Mathis, 30, and David Eugene Richards, 34, both of Spokane, were on hand April 7 in Okanogan County Superior Court to question prospective jurors.
     Mathis and Richards are being tried together, charged with aggravated first-degree murder or, in the alternative, first-degree murder with premeditation, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, tampering with evidence and first-degree kidnapping.
     They are alleged to have been active participants in the killing of 25-year-old Kitterman, who was about 11 weeks pregnant when she was found beaten and stabbed to death March 1, 2009, on remote Stalder Road about 15 miles southwest of Tonasket.
     Mathis and Richards are being held in the Okanogan County Jail on $1 million bail.
     A third defendant, Brent "Hollywood" Lane Phillips, 29, also of Spokane, pleaded guilty March 29 to reduced charges of first-degree murder-premeditated murder, first-degree manslaughter of an unborn child, tampering with evidence and first-degree kidnapping. He will be sentenced May 11 - the state has recommended a 26-year prison term.
     A fourth defendant, Lacey Kae Hirst-Pavek, 34, Crumbacher, is facing a May 4 trial on the charges of first-degree murder and first-degree manslaughter. She is out-of-custody on $250,000 bail.
     She is accused of hiring Phillips, Mathis and Richards to rough up Kitterman, who allegedly was pregnant with the unborn child of Hirst-Pavek's husband, Daniel Pavek.
     There were 152 jurors called to fill out questionnaires last Friday. Of those, 50 were questioned on Tuesday and another 72 were brought to court on Wednesday. Heading into Thursday the pool had been scaled back to 68 potential jurors. The trial could last until May 7.
     The process continues at 9:30 a.m. Thursday as attorneys attempt to seat 16 jurors. That final pool will include four alternates who will hear the case; it won't be known until the jury is ready to deliberate which four will be excused.
     There will be at least two more rounds of juror elimination - voir dire and peremptory - Thursday morning.
     During the voir dire, attorneys can challenge a prospective juror for cause or biases.
     The peremptory round allows attorneys to remove a prospective juror without any reason. The prosecution will have 11 peremptory challenges and each defense attorney will have 14.
     If a jury can be seated by Thursday afternoon, presiding judge Chelan County Superior Court Judge T.W. "Chip" Small said he'd like to see opening arguments begin Friday morning.
     Okanogan County Prosecuting Attorney Karl Sloan and contract attorney Greg Weber are representing the state. On the defense side, Steve Graham is representing Mathis. Tony Frey and Sunshine Poliquin are representing Richards.
     During juror selection Wednesday, Graham and Frey targeted jurors who believed they would be biased, based on their connection to witnesses or from what they had read in The Chronicle or heard on the radio.
     Several prospective jurors from the Tonasket and Oroville area were excused from duty because of their knowledge of the case, friendships with witnesses or connections to involved families. A couple were also excused due to vacation, employment hardships and medical conditions.
     A few jurors who live in the Methow Valley and at least one college student said they hadn't heard about the case until being called for jury duty - they remain in the pool.