Laura Garza Murder Trial Begins
GOSHEN, N.Y. (AP) — A murder trial is getting under way for a registered sex offender accused of murdering an aspiring dancer who lived in Bay Ridge. Victim Laura Garza’s body was found in Pennsylvania more than a year after she went missing in New York.Jury selection is set to begin Monday in Orange County Court in the murder trial of Michael Mele (MEE’-lee) of Wallkill. Garza, met Mele at a Manhattan nightclub in December 2008 and disappeared afterward. Her body was found in April 2010 near Scranton, Pa.Garza had moved to Brooklyn from McAllen, Texas, five months before her disappearance.