Jeffery Trevino and Kira Steger
Jeffery Trevino and Kira Steger

Twelve jurors and two alternates were chosen Wednesday in the murder trial of Jeffery Trevino.

Trevino, 39, faces two counts of second-degree murder in the death of his wife, Kira Steger. Steger disappeared in February. Her body was pulled from the Mississippi River on May 8.

The jurors selected -- eight men and six women -- are a restaurant worker, an electrician, a mechanical engineer, a Lutheran pastor, a health-care consultant with a background in biomedical engineering, a shipping-receiving manager for a produce-supply company, a former software developer, a nanny and recent graduate from college, a retired former Marine, a 3M chemical engineer, a retiree from the printing business and a young working mother.

One alternate juror works for a cell-tower company. The other is a Roseville grandmother.

The jury will be sworn in Thursday morning and the trial will commence with opening statements from the attorneys for the prosecution and defense. The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

Ramsey County District Judge Leonardo Castro and attorneys in the case queried 47 prospective jurors one by one after they filled out juror questionnaires.

Investigators said they found significant amounts of blood throughout the couple's home in the Payne-Phalen neighborhood. Massive search efforts centered on Keller Lake in St. Paul until the focus shifted to the river.

Many potential jurors spoke of seeing media reports of the case, reinforcing defense concerns that the jury pool would be tainted.


Two people who said they witnessed the search efforts at Keller Lake were excused. A woman who said she "thinking of volunteering" in the search, but decided against it because of the snowy weather, was chosen as an alternate juror.

According to the criminal complaint in the case, Trevino and Steger were having problems in their marriage. They had gone out to dinner one Thursday evening at the Mall of America, where Steger co-managed a clothing store. Steger was scheduled to work the next day but never arrived.

Trevino called police to report his wife missing that Sunday, Feb. 24. She had left their rental home in the 500 block of East Iowa Avenue on Friday morning to run errands before work, he said.

It was not unusual for her to stay with friends for a few days at a time, Trevino told police.

Prosecutors say Steger was unhappy in the marriage and wanted to end it. Trevino's attorney says she was having an extramarital affair.

Trevino remains at the Ramsey County jail on $1 million bail.
