The second day of jury selection in the retrial of Martin Miller, who was convicted of first-degree murder in the death of his wife more than 10 years ago, concluded Tuesday with 48 potential jurors selected for the jury panel.

Martin Miller is led away after being convicted of his wife's murder in Judge Paula Martin's courtroom.

Defense attorney Richard Ney and prosecutors Andy Bauch and Mark Simpson will work to pare down the 48 to the eventual 14 jurors on Wednesday. Twelve jurors will ultimately decide the case, but two alternates will be selected in case something happens to the selected 12 over the two-week long trial.

Simpson and Bauch say Miller, a former Lawrence carpenter and Christian school leader, strangled his wife in her sleep because he had been having an affair with another woman and he wanted to collect $300,000 in life insurance money. Ney argues that Mary Miller died of natural causes.

A Douglas County jury convicted Miller, 56, in 2005 of first-degree murder in the July 28, 2004, death of Mary E. Miller, 46, at the family’s central Lawrence home. The Kansas Court of Appeals ruled in February 2014 that Miller should get a new trial based on errors in the jury instructions during his initial trial.

About 100 potential jurors came to the courthouse Monday for voir dire, or jury selection, and about half were dismissed by Tuesday afternoon after a tedious one-by-one individual interviewing process. Later, about 10 more jurors were dismissed during public voir dire for various reasons, including having prior knowledge of the case and admitting a prejudice toward Miller because he had an extramarital affair.

While he thanked potential jurors for their patience these past two day, Ney emphasized the value of proper voir dire on a case.

“Some people say that voir dire is the most boring part of the case, but really, it may be the most important,” Ney said.

Jury selection will continue Wednesday morning. Reporter Caitlin Doornbos will be tweeting from the courthouse throughout the retrial. Follow her at www.twitter.com/CaitlinDoornbos.