VIRGINIA BEACH
The trial for a massage therapist accused of killing a co-worker, cutting up her body and dumping the remains in trash bags near the Great Dismal Swamp is set to begin Monday with jury selection.
Prosecutors expect the trial on a charge of second-degree murder to last four to five days.
Justin Keith Cornell, then 38, and Brianna Armstrong, 43, both worked as massage therapists for Knuckles 'N' Knots, a day spa with locations in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, when Armstrong disappeared early last May.
Her body was found three weeks later. It had been cut into pieces, stuffed into four trash bags and tossed into a swamp area near Douglas Road and Dismal Swamp Canal Trail in Chesapeake.
A passerby discovered one of the bags with a bone sticking out of it, according to a report from the medical examiner.
Also tucked in the bags was a shower curtain, gloves, clothing, and sponges, the report said. Inside a trash bag "in the area of the body" investigators found a receipt from a local psychiatric office that had Cornell's name on it, according to a police report in his court file. Prosecutors said in an earlier court hearing that blood and the same type of trash bags used to dispose of Armstrong's body were found in Cornell's Virginia Beach apartment.
Armstrong's husband reported her missing on May 9, 2015, two days after he said he last saw her. He told police that she said she was going to see a friend in Virginia Beach.
Her car was found six days after she was reported missing in a shopping center parking lot next to Cornell's apartment complex on Newtown Road.
According to a police report in Cornell's court file, Cornell told police that he last saw Armstrong on May 7, 2015 – the same day her husband last saw her – when they had dinner and drinks at his apartment and practiced massages on each other.
He said he was concerned when she left because he thought she had too much to drink but she assured him she was fine. He also told police that he and Armstrong dated from December 2014 through March 2015 and that he did not think that she was married.
Cornell, now 39, has two prior convictions for driving under the influence, but there are no violent offenses on his record.
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The trial for a massage therapist accused of killing a co-worker, cutting up her body and dumping the remains in trash bags near the Great Dismal Swamp is set to begin Monday with jury selection.
Prosecutors expect the trial on a charge of second-degree murder to last four to five days.
Justin Keith Cornell, then 38, and Brianna Armstrong, 43, both worked as massage therapists for Knuckles 'N' Knots, a day spa with locations in Virginia Beach and Chesapeake, when Armstrong disappeared early last May.
Her body was found three weeks later. It had been cut into pieces, stuffed into four trash bags and tossed into a swamp area near Douglas Road and Dismal Swamp Canal Trail in Chesapeake.
A passerby discovered one of the bags with a bone sticking out of it, according to a report from the medical examiner.
Also tucked in the bags was a shower curtain, gloves, clothing, and sponges, the report said. Inside a trash bag "in the area of the body" investigators found a receipt from a local psychiatric office that had Cornell's name on it, according to a police report in his court file. Prosecutors said in an earlier court hearing that blood and the same type of trash bags used to dispose of Armstrong's body were found in Cornell's Virginia Beach apartment.
Armstrong's husband reported her missing on May 9, 2015, two days after he said he last saw her. He told police that she said she was going to see a friend in Virginia Beach.
Her car was found six days after she was reported missing in a shopping center parking lot next to Cornell's apartment complex on Newtown Road.
According to a police report in Cornell's court file, Cornell told police that he last saw Armstrong on May 7, 2015 – the same day her husband last saw her – when they had dinner and drinks at his apartment and practiced massages on each other.
He said he was concerned when she left because he thought she had too much to drink but she assured him she was fine. He also told police that he and Armstrong dated from December 2014 through March 2015 and that he did not think that she was married.
Cornell, now 39, has two prior convictions for driving under the influence, but there are no violent offenses on his record.
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