Denny Ross retrial gets under way in Akron with jury selection in 1999 Hannah Hill murder case

AKRON, Ohio - A mistrial followed by a decade worth of appeals have led to this: Jury selection is now under way in Akron for the retrial of Denny Ross in the 1999 murder case of Hannah Hill.

Ross is charged with murder, abuse of a corpse and felonious assault. He is accused of beating, raping and strangling the 18-year-old Kenmore girl on May 19, 1999.

A botched Akron police investigation led to the discovery of Hill's body six days after her parents filed a missing person's report. Hill's body was found on Caine Road in Ellet in the trunk of her gold Geo Prizm. Less than 24 hours later, police arrested Ross.

In 2000, Ross went on trial for Hill's murder, but a judge declared a mistrial after learning jurors discussed a lie detector test that was not presented during the trial. It was later learned that jurors had voted to acquit Ross on the murder counts, but the verdicts were never read in open court.

A decade of state and federal appeals followed, until the Ohio Supreme Court made a ruling in Dec. 2010: Ross must be retried for the crimes. Only this time, the death penalty won't be considered.

Ross is currently serving a 25-year sentence in the Trumbull Correctional Institution after being convicted in 2004 of raping an Akron woman, a crime he committed while free on bond in the Hill case.

In July, Ross turned down two plea deals in Summit County Common Pleas Court, one for murder, the other for manslaughter, calling both "insulting."

One deal would've tacked on an additional 25 years to his prison term. The other would have sent Ross to prison for 15 years to life, with 8 years credit for time already served.

"I won't change my mind. There will never be a plea offer," Ross said that day in open court.

Judge Hunter said jury selection will last all week and the trial will start next Monday. He said the trial is expected to last 8 weeks.

NewsChannel5 and newsnet5.com will cover the retrial extensively from Akron, with a live blog once the proceedings begin.