Trial Of Man Accused Of Fatally Beating Son Starts

The trial of a Massachusetts man charged with fatally beating his 7-year-old son on Father's Day in 2009 has started.

The Telegram & Gazette reports that jury selection in the trial of 41-year-old Leslie Schuler began Thursday in Worcester Superior Court.

Prosecutors allege Schuler beat Nathaniel Turner on June 21, 2009. The boy died two days later. An autopsy determined he suffered blunt force trauma to the head, torso and extremities.

The boy lived with his grandmother in Eufaula, Alabama, but came to Massachusetts to spend the summer with his father.

Schuler has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder.

The trial had been delayed because of the unavailability of a defense expert who says the boy had been abused before arriving in Massachusetts.