Trial Of Ex-Hockey Player Charged In Wife’s Slaying To Begin

BATH, N.Y. (AP) — Testimony is set to begin in the trial of a former professional hockey player charged in the slaying of his wife at the couple's upstate New York home.

Jury selection was completed Wednesday afternoon in a Steuben (stoo-BEHN') County court for the murder trial of Thomas Clayton. He's accused of hiring a man to kill his 35-year-old wife Kelley in late September 2015 at the couple's home near the Pennsylvania border.

Prosecutors say he hired Michael Beard to carry out the killing. Beard was convicted in November of first- and second-degree murder, the same charges Clayton is on trial for.

Clayton was a former hockey star at Niagara University who went on to play professionally for the Elmira Jackals.

Testimony is scheduled to begin Thursday morning.