Jury selection will begin Tuesday for the high-profile murder trial of defendant Nicholas Wayne Moore as parties continue to work through technical difficulties over forensic evidence.  Moore is accused of killing 27-year-old Michael Castro, whose body was found in a barrel in Yigo in 2020, a year after he disappeared. 

In Presiding Judge Maria Cenzon courtroom’s monday, prosecutor Christine Tenorio argued that there is missing forensic data from one of Eric Salone’s two cellphones. 

Salone is a key out-of-state witness, who is accused by Moore’s legal team of firing the same gun, that allegedly killed Castro, in a separate driveby shooting in Agana Heights just two weeks prior. 

Tenorio said the NCIS did two separate extractions from Salone's phones, but the Guam Police Department and the Attorney General’s Office only received one extraction report. 

Prosecution requires the NCIS’s help to read illegible messages or to redo the data extraction, but says it may take time with the federal government shutdown.

In the meantime, the 2021 case has been delayed for several years due to untimely filings and witness availability. 

The trial’s opening remarks are expected to take place October 21.