The murder trial against an ex-Navy JAG officer accused of killing and dismembering his wife in late 2022 began this week, as his defense attorneys argued his innocence and state prosecutors encouraged the jury to use “common sense” in convicting the husband.

Nicholas Kassotis is facing 12 charges related to the death of his second wife Mindi Mebane Kassotis, including malice murder, felony murder, aggravated assault, tampering with evidence, and dismembering a body, according to the local Coastal Courier , local WSAV , and WTOC .

PEOPLE previously reported that Mindi’s body was discovered in the woods of a hunting club in Riceboro, Ga., on Dec. 2, 2022 — roughly a week after investigators suspect she was killed — when a hunter happened upon her body while tracking a deer.

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