Olathe ? After more than two years of investigation and legal maneuvering, jury selection began Monday for John E. Robinson Sr., who is accused of killing three women in Kansas.

Nearly 300 of the 1,200 summoned jurors filed through Johnson County District Judge John Anderson III’s courtroom, where Robinson could face the death penalty if convicted. It was expected to take up to a week to select 12 jurors and eight alternates.

Robinson, 58, stood and acknowledged the potential jurors with a pleasant “good morning” and slight bow when introduced by the judge. Aside from that, Robinson showed little emotion.

Potential jurors included a mother who brought two small children and a woman who brought Stephen King’s murder novel “The Shining” to read.

Robinson is charged with killing Suzette Trouten and Izabela Lewicka, whose bodies were found decomposing in barrels on land Robinson owned in Linn County, 40 miles south of Kansas City. He’s also charged with killing Lisa Stasi, who remains missing.

Robinson also faces three capital murder charges in Missouri, where the bodies of three women were found in barrels at a storage locker.

More than 100 people said Monday they had potential hardships that could keep them from serving on the jury for a trial that could last up to six weeks. Jurors will be sequestered during their deliberations but not during the trial.

The process of accepting or declining those hardship excuses was time-consuming. At the close of the proceedings Monday, at least 70 people were still waiting to cite their reasons for Anderson and the attorneys. Those individuals must return today for questions.

Among those excused from jury duty were several individuals who would face financial difficulty if they were to miss as much as six weeks of work. Other reasons were more personal, including a gentleman in his 70s who had delayed the celebration of his 50th wedding anniversary pending his status as a juror. He was excused.

Defense lawyer Patrick Berrigan suggested in his questions that hardships could distract some of the potential jurors, including one woman who broke down in tears as she described her daughter’s health condition and desire to be free to attend to her needs.

Trouten, 28, was from Newport, Mich. Investigators say she was killed in 2000; Lewicka, 22, a former Purdue University student who moved to the Kansas City area in June 1997, was killed in 1999. Stasi, 19, was from Johnson County and had been missing since 1985.

In Missouri, Robinson is charged with the deaths of Sheila Faith, her daughter Debbie, and Beverly Bonner. They were found in barrels in a storage locker in Raymore, Mo.