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Jury selection begins in trial for man accused of murdering Chelsea Bruck

Posted at 10:20 AM, May 08, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-08 10:22:59-04

Jury selection begins Monday morning in the trial of a man accused of murdering Chelsea Bruck.

Daniel Clay, 27, is charged with open murder and concealing the death of an individual in her death.

Bruck disappeared on October 26, 2014, after attending a Halloween party in Frenchtown Township. Her remains were found in a wooded lot in Ash Township on April 24, 2015.

Police arrested Clay on July 22, 2016 and his girlfriend told 7 Action News he confessed to his involvement in her death.

Monroe County Sheriff Dale Malone said information from Michigan State Police's crime lab connected Clay to the investigation.

Malone said the suspect revealed information "that only the killer would know," during an interview with deputies on Friday afternoon. Information he gave to deputies was not given to the public, according to Malone.

Investigators say Clay told them that he accidentally killed Bruck by choking her while they had "rough" sex in his car.

Clay claimed that she asked him to choke her. He told investigators that he tried CPR, but it didn't work. He said he "freaked out" and left her body in that wooded lot.

The Wayne County medical examiner revealed Bruck died of blunt force trauma to the head.