Jury selection begins for 2015 Murabella murders

WATCH LIVE: James Colley murder trial 

Jury selection is under way for the St. Johns County man accused of killing his estranged wife and her friend.

James Colley faces the death penalty for the Aug. 27, 2015 killings. His wife, Amanda Cloaninger Colley, and her friend, Lindy Dobbins, were shot and killed in a Murabella home in the World Golf Village area.

There were 60 potential jurors in court on Monday. At least 22 of those jurors had heard about the case, and two of the jurors were excused because they live in the same area where the shootings took place.

Colley was dressed in a blue suit and tie and appeared noticeably thinner than he was at the time of his 2015 arrest.

One of the excused jurors spoke to Action News Jax off-camera. She said that she is Colley's former neighbor. She wanted to throw up when she saw Colley in court, she said.

Fourteen jurors are needed, and selection is expected to take up to three days.

Colley's lawyer plans to argue that his client was influence of drugs — namely, Ambien — during the killings.

New charges were recently filed against Colley, who already faces two counts of first-degree murder. Colley now also faces two counts of attempted first-murder — two people, a man named Lamar Douberly, and a woman whose name is being withheld -- survived the attack.

Colley is also accused of taking items from the house. He pled not guilty to all three of the charges.

On the day of the shooting, Colley was in court, fighting an injunction order filed by his wife that claimed he was violent.

After his Amanda Cloaninger Colley and Dobbins were killed, Colley went on the run and was captured hours later in Virginia.

Cox Media Group