Live Blog: Deputies Open Testimony in Brett Parker Murder Trial

Judge DeAndrea Benjamin will hear the opening arguments in the trial of Brett Parker, an Irmo man charged with two counts of murder.

The trial is scheduled to begin at the Richland County courthouse Wednesday morning after 12 jurors were selected after a series of questions Tuesday, The State reports. 

Parker is facing two counts of murder in the deaths of his wife, Tammy Jo Parker, and friend, Bryan Capnerhurst, both of whom were found with multiple gunshot wounds in the Parker's Tackeria Court home on April 13, 2012.

Parker's attorneys said their client shot Capnerhurst in self-defense.

Prosecutors, however, said Parker killed his wife to collect more than $1 million in insurance money to pay off a gambling debt. 

During the pre-trial hearing Tuesday, prosecutors said Parker was having an affair with a young woman and even sent text messages to the woman at least an hour before the shootings, according to The State. 

Benjamin is considering whether the evidence of the affair will be banned or allowed in court. 

Prosecutors argued that the evidence of the affair was a "crucial part of explaining to the jury of how Parker “turned from a gambling person into a killer," according to the report. 

Parker's lawyers told the newspaper the "relationship was just about sex" and that the two were not romantically involved. 

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