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Jury Selection Expected To Continue All Week In Birgfeld Killing

GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. (CBS4)- Jury selection continued on Tuesday and was expected to last all week in the murder trial of Paige Birgfeld.

Lester Ralph Jones was arrested in November 2014 for the June 2007 murder of Birgfeld, a single mother of three in Grand Junction.

Authorities allege he killed Birgfeld, dumped her body and torched her car. He has been charged with murder, kidnapping and arson.

Lester Ralph Jones photo MCSO3 --
Lester Ralph Jones (credit: Mesa County)

Investigators say Birgfeld, twice divorced and living in Grand Junction about 200 miles west of Denver, led a double life as a paid escort with many unsavory clients.

Jones was arrested after detectives questioned -- and ruled out -- at least eight other men, including Birgfeld's former husband and several other clients. Witnesses said one of those clients had an "arsenal of guns and a pile of cocaine."

Birgfeld Map
(credit: CBS)

Her apparent double life attracted widespread attention to the mystery of her disappearance, including a "48 Hours" segment called "The Secret Life of Paige Birgfeld" in 2008.

Her skeletal remains were found in 2012, in a dry creek bed in neighboring Delta County county. Officials still don't know how Birgfeld died.

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