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Trial set for Massillon man in wife's hospital killing

Jury selection begins Monday in the murder trial of John Wise.
John Wise.

AKRON -- Jury selection begins Monday in the murder trial of a man charged with fatally shooting his debilitated wife in her hospital bed last year.

The attorney for John Wise, of Massillon, expects him to testify at the Akron trial and tell jurors about the heartbreak he felt over wife Barbara suffering triple cerebral aneurysms and being left unable to speak.

The 68-year-old Wise has been under house arrest since last year. He could face life in prison if convicted of the aggravated murder of his wife of 45 years.

Attorney Paul Adamson says Wise wants the jury's understanding, not sympathy, in what friends have called a mercy killing.

Mercy killing isn't a legal defense in Ohio. Wise's attorney will mount an insanity defense.

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By THOMAS J. SHEERAN, Associated Press

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