DEATH PENALTY CASE TO BEGIN IN 1999 KILLING OF TOURIST - GAIL VASILKIOTI WAS SHOT SEPT. 12, 1999, AND DIED SIX WEEKS LATER.

And more than three years since Savannah police arrested Bernard Jerome Green and charged him with murder in the case.



On Monday, potential jurors will report to the Chatham County Courthouse to begin the days-long process of seating 12 people and four alternates to hear the case.



If convicted, the jurors must decide whether Green should spend the rest of his life in prison or be executed by lethal injection.



Once the jury is chosen, the case before Judge Michael L. Karpf is expected to last about a week. Opening arguments may begin in the case Friday morning.



Green is charged with killing Gail Vasilkioti, a former English teacher and stewardess from Larchmont, N.Y.



Vasilkioti, 56, was in Savannah on vacation, returning to her hotel from dinner at the Pink House with her companion, when they were approached by a young man holding a shotgun.



He demanded their wallets, and as Russell Hergesheimer reached into his pocket, he tripped backward, and the shotgun went off.



Vasilkioti was hit in the back, sustaining extensive injuries to her right hip and internal organs. She spent six weeks and one day in the hospital before she died.



The case received a lot of publicity locally because of the cloud city crime cast on tourism. Because of that, a change of venue motion is still pending.



In September, the state Supreme Court threw out about 90 minutes of Green's videotaped interview with police, agreeing with the defense that Green had asserted his right to end the interrogation.



Green said to a detective interviewing him: "I don't want to talk." At that point, the court ruled, he invoked his right to remain silent.



At a hearing Thursday morning, the court viewed the remaining portion of the videotape. After the session was concluded, Karpf called everyone back into court, and he warned Green against witness tampering.



Karpf told both attorneys Green was spotted by a courtroom deputy writing the names of witnesses and their phone numbers on a small slip of paper. Questioning Green's need for it, the paper was confiscated by the court.



THE CASE



Gail Vasilkioti, 56, of Larchmont, N.Y., died Oct. 25, 1999, six weeks and one day after being shot in an attempted armed robbery. Visiting Savannah, Vasilkioti was with her companion, Russell Hergesheimer, walking back to the Presidents' Quarters after dinner about 9 p.m. Sept. 12, 1999, when they were approached by a young man with a shotgun. He demanded their money, and then fired one blast, hitting Vasilkioti in the back.



Savannah police arrested Bernard Jerome Green, 22, of East Anderson Street 12 days after the shooting. He has remained at the Chatham County jail since then, awaiting trial.



Green is charged with murder, aggravated battery, aggravated assault, armed robbery and possession of a firearm during the commission of a crime.



If the jury convicts Green, it must then decide if he shouldbe sentenced to life in prison or death.