Courtroom 302 in the Ward County Courthouse was filled Monday morning for the selection of the jury for the trial of two individuals charged in connection with the murder of Minot man in February 2022.

Mathew R. Anderson, 35, and Regina Goodale, 35, are charged in the shooting death of Regina Goodale’s estranged husband, Wade Goodale, 42. Anderson, arrested shortly after the shooting, was charged with Class AA murder while Regina Goodale, arrested later in June, was charged as an accomplice to a murder, also a Class AA felony.

During two different sessions on Monday, the two defense teams and the prosecutors grilled and evaluated around 80 prospective jurors for the trial, which is set to run for 10 days over the next two weeks. Defense attorneys Steven Mottinger and William Robert Hartl and State’s Attorney Roza Larson probed the jury candidates on possible obligations, special circumstances, scheduling conflicts and the likelihood that they’d be able to remain fair and impartial.

Court documents say that Regina Goodale allegedly arranged an attack on her husband with Anderson, with whom she was romantically involved. Anderson allegedly assaulted Wade Goodale through a car window before shooting him while Regina Goodale waited in his car. Wade Goodale was eventually treated by emergency responders and taken to the hospital before succumbing to his injuries.

A third individual involved in the case, Whitney Faye Racine, 35, has already pleaded guilty to Class C felony facilitation of murder for her role in arranging for Wade Goodale to visit her at her home knowing he was to be assaulted. Racine’s plea deal required her continued cooperation as a witness for the prosecution of Anderson and Goodale. She was sentenced to 18 months in the Department of Corrections and five years of supervised probation.

Defense attorneys challenged three potential jurors who admitted they had discussed or read newspaper and television coverage of the case since the defendant’s arrest. Larson objected to the challenge, pointing out that in one instance the prospective juror did say that they would remain fair and impartial despite consuming content related to the case.

Judge Todd Cresap eventually ruled against striking them, saying,” I don’t think reading a newspaper is going to be similar to what you get in court.”

Cresap informed candidates they would be notified regarding their selection Monday evening. Opening statements are scheduled for 9 a.m. this morning at the Ward County Courthouse. Cresap said he is hopeful the parties will be ready to send the case to jury deliberation early next week.