NORWICH – Defense attorney in the murder trial of Peter Wlasiuk, Mark Loughran, called his first witnesses to the stand Tuesday as the proceeding entered its 11th day.

Testimony was briefly delayed prior to yesterday’s morning session due to the absence of one juror, who was reportedly ill and admitted to a local emergency room. The trial resumed at approximately 11 a.m.

Wlasiuk is charged with second degree murder – a class A-1 felony – accused of killing his wife, Patricia, on April 3 of 2002 at their Oxford home. The Chenango County District Attorney’s Office alleges that Wlasiuk later engineered a staged accident at Guilford Lake. According to Wlasiuk, he and Patricia were travelling east on County Road 35 in the Town of Guilford when she lost control of his 1998 GMC pick-up truck, veering into Guilford Lake after she swerved to miss a deer. Wlasiuk later changed his story, stating Patricia had purposely driven the truck into the lake as the couple argued.

He has twice been convicted, in 2003 and 2008, both times sentenced to 25 years to life in state prison. Both convictions have since been appealed, in 2006 and 2011, respectively.