ELLSWORTH — Jury selection is underway in the trial of a Maine man accused of raping, beating and strangling a former high school classmate.

Jalique Keene

Opening statements will begin after the jury is seated for the trial of Jalique Keene in Superior Court in Ellsworth. Jury selection began on Monday.

Mikaela Conley

Keene, who’s 21, is accused of killing 19-year-old Mikaela Conley, of Bar Harbor, and hiding her body in woods behind a school. Court documents indicate a surveillance video captured him carrying Conley over his shoulder as she resisted. He was later seen dragging her body away.

Keene and Conley both attended Mount Desert High School, where Keene was a running back for the football team. A newspaper reports he’d just returned from playing amateur football in Serbia when Conley was killed last June.

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