Olathe ? Prospective jurors in the trial of two church leaders and a baby sitter accused of killing a 9-year-old boy were quizzed Monday about whether they could set aside extensive news coverage and hear the case on its merits.

“You might hear things that haven’t been in the media,” Johnson County District Judge John Bennett told one potential juror. “You might not hear all of the things that have been in the media.”

Christy Edgar and Neil Edgar Sr. led God’s Creation Outreach Ministry in Kansas City, Kan. The baby sitter, Chasity Boyd, was a church member.

The three are accused of first-degree murder and child abuse in the suffocation death of the church leaders’ adopted son, Brian Edgar.

If convicted as charged, all three face life in prison without the possibility of parole for 20 years.

Prosecutors say Brian Edgar died Dec. 30, 2002, after being wrapped in duct tape with only his nose uncovered. A sibling testified at an earlier hearing that Brian was being punished for stealing food.

The two Edgars and Boyd all have separate attorneys. Attorneys for the two women have moved unsuccessfully to have all three defendants tried separately, and lawyers for all three have indicated they will pursue strategies that place blame on the other defendants.

The first round of jury selection, expected to wrap up today, covered only questions of hardship and pretrial publicity, and dealt largely with potential jurors’ responses to a questionnaire.

Jurors who make it through the first round will be called back Wednesday for more intensive questioning, and Bennett said he hoped to have a jury seated by Thursday.

He told those coming back Wednesday not to read, watch or listen to reports about the case and not to discuss it with anyone.

Juror No. 130, a woman with a background in social work who works with abused children, wrote in her questionnaire that, “Even without a trial, I am biased against (the defendants).”

Testimony in the trial is expected to last one to two weeks.