Finding a jury for the Julie Schenecker double murder trial will take more than one day.

Attorneys spent Monday questioning potential jurors about their hardships of serving on the jury or what possible knowledge they already had about the case.

Julie Schenecker, 53, is accused of killing her children, Calyx, 16 and Beau, 13. The children were shot to death in their Tampa Palms home in January 2011.

Julie Schenecker, who has a history of depression and a bipolar disorder, has pleaded not guilty.

About 100 potential jurors were brought into the courtroom Monday morning.

Defense and prosecuting attorneys are searching for jurors with little, if any, exposure to the case and its extensive media coverage during the past three years.

When Circuit Judge Emmett L. Battles asked six rows of potential jurors if they knew anything or had heard anything about the case, several stood up to indicate they had.

Attorneys then began the individual questions of potential jurors.

Three of the first eight were excused (and six of the first 20) but perhaps the most fervent response to questioning came from potential juror 19: “There’s no doubt in my mind she shot her children.”

The first day of jury selection saw 50 potential jurors processed.

About 30 claimed hardships with serving on the jury or previous knowledge of the case and at least a dozen of those were dismissed.

Before ending for the day, Judge Battles instructed the potential jurors not to discuss case in person or electronically.

Jury selection will continue Tuesday at 8:30 a.m.

Once a jury is sat, it will be tasked with deciding if Julie Schenecker did not know what she was doing at the time of the murders or didn’t know it was wrong. The prosecution contends that Schenecker knew what she was doing.

Battles also questioned both the defense and the prosecution about a plea agreement. Battles asked both sides if any plea agreement had been discussed. Attorneys on both sides said no.

The judge also addressed a calm and neatly attired Julie Schenecker directly.

“You understand if (you’re) convicted of charges that carries a mandatory imprisonment of life in prison,” Battles said.  “You shall not be eligible for parole, you understand that?”

“I do your honor,” she responded.

Meanwhile, her former husband and father of the slain children, Col. Parker Schenecker sat in the courtroom, monitoring the proceedings.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks.

Questions remain about teenagers' deaths

Details about the case have emerged over the past three years, but as the trial starts, many questions remain, mainly what caused this tragedy in a seemingly normal family.

Was it simply a matter of a woman with a documented history of mental illness reaching a breaking point in her mind? Or was it a clear case of lucid, premeditated killings. The jury will be tasked with deciding that.

This much is known:

On the afternoon of January 27, 2011, siblings Calyx and Beau Schenecker were both shot in the head with a .38 revolver at close range.

Beau, 13, was found dead in the family’s sports utility vehicle in the garage of their Tampa Palms home. His 16-year-old sister, Calyx, was shot upstairs in her bedroom while doing her homework. Her body was moved to her bed and covered with a blanket.

As shocking as the killings were in the New Tampa community, as well as nationally, another horrific detail quickly emerged: The children’s mother was arrested on suspicion of their killings after an alleged confession.

After a hospital visit for a "pre-existing medical condition," Julie Schenecker would be charged with two counts of first degree murder and, within days, be indicted by a grand jury.

When she was transported to jail, a wide-eyed, mumbling Julie Schenecker was trembling uncontrollably. The image, captured by television cameras and replayed for days, was the first image of Schenecker seen by the public after the murders.

Among the legal wrangling that followed in the years since the children’s deaths: 

  • Army Colonel Parker Schencker, who said his wife had been suffering from depression since adolescence but only revealed it to him after they were married, divorced Julie in May 2011.

  • Col. Schenecker, who was stationed in Qatar during the murders,  also filed a wrongful death lawsuit against his former wife in the deaths of the children after a dispute over family assets – specifically about limiting funds available for Julie to use in her legal defense.

  • The original trial date, Oct. 7, 2013, was pushed back as defense attorneys said they needed more time to review evidence, including a large amount of computer files containing emails and correspondence to and from Julie before and after the murders.

  • Prosecutors decided not to seek the death penalty for Julie Schenecker. The state initially planned to pursue it but earlier this month filed a notice with the State Attorney’s Office withdrawing the death penalty pursuit.

  • Just days before the start of the trial, Hillsborough Circuit Judge Emmett L. Battles granted a defense motion to exclude some testimony from being heard during the trial. That included an incident where Julie slapped her daughter and another incident in 2010 where Julie crashed her car while allegedly under the influence of drugs and alcohol.

The trial is expected to last about three weeks.