ST. CHARLES COUNTY, Mo. — Testimonies will be underway Tuesday in the trial of Richard Emery, who is charged with killing his girlfriend, her two young children and her mother in 2018.
Opening statements were scheduled for 8:30 a.m.
On Sept. 5, Leslie Knight with the St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney's Office confirmed prosecutors are seeking the death penalty for Emery in this trial.
The jury selection began two weeks ago.
Richard Emery is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and is facing charges on 11 other crimes.
Four people were found shot inside a St. Charles home on Whetstone Drive Dec. 29, 2018. Three of them were dead when police arrived.
Officers found two children, 8-year-old Zoe Kasten and 10-year-old Jonathan Kasten dead. Their grandmother 61-year-old Jane Moeckel was also found dead inside the home.
The children's mother, Kate Kasten, was Emery's girlfriend. She was shot several times inside the house on Whetstone Drive.
She was taken to an area hospital, where she died.
Following the shootings, Emery allegedly stabbed a woman during a carjacking and exchanged gunfire with St. Charles police.
Emery was later found by police wounded at a gas station several miles away.
In 2018, St. Charles County Prosecuting Attorney Tim Lohmar said Emery was living with the family in the home where the shootings occurred for about a year.
He called it the "worst example of a domestic violence case."
Police said they had never been called to the home for an incident before the shooting.
In early September, Leslie Knight with the prosecutor's office told 5 on Your Side the trial is expected to take 5 to 6 weeks.
In 2019, 5 on Your Side spoke with Kate Kasten's father, who said prosecutors consulted him before moving forward with seeking the death penalty and he told them he approved of the decision.
Prosecutors warned him that getting to the start of the trial could be a long road. Kate Kasten’s father told 5 On Your Side that he thinks about Emery every day and wants to see justice served.