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Accused Westchester Wife Killer Back On Trial

WHITE PLAINS, NY (AP / WCBS 880) - Prosecutors are presenting no major new evidence at the retrial of a New Yorker accused of killing and incinerating his wife.

LISTEN: A preview from WCBS 880 reporter Catherine Cioffi

Werner Lippe's first trial ended in a hung jury. The prosecution never found a body or any trace of one.
   

Monday's opening statements showed that hasn't changed.
   

Prosecutor John O'Rourke told Westchester County jurors that the defendant knocked out 49-year-old Faith Lippe with a piece of wood and disposed of her in a burn barrel in 2008.
   

But defense attorney Andrew Rubin said Lippe was not the "evil genius'' portrayed by the prosecution.
   

He told the jurors there was no direct proof against Lippe. He said the 67-year-old defendant confessed out of fear.

(Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press.  All Rights Reserved.)

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