After three days of jury selection, a total of eight jurors have been seated so far to decide the fate of a Stillman Valley man charged with killing his ex-wife in 2016 and setting her home on fire with their 3-year-old son inside.

Once fully selected, the jury will hear the case filed against Duane Meyer, 43, who is charged with four counts of first-degree murder, two counts of aggravated arson and one count of concealment of a homicidal death in connection with an Oct. 19, 2016, Byron house fire in which his ex-wife, Margaret “Maggie” (Rosko) Meyer, 31, was found dead.

The couple’s 3-year-old son, Amos Meyer, who was in an upstairs bedroom in the home at the time of the fire, was later pronounced dead at a Rockford hospital.

Meyer has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges and has been held in the Ogle County Jail since his arrest Oct. 9, 2019.

Attorneys have been working since Monday to seat a 12-member jury and four alternate jurors. Four jurors were selected Monday, two on Tuesday and another two Wednesday. Jury selection will continue Thursday morning at the Ogle County Judicial Center in Oregon.

Throughout the jury selection process, Ogle County Judge John “Ben” Roe and defense and prosecution attorneys have asked potential jurors a series of questions to determine each juror’s suitability to serve.

Roe has excused potential jurors for a variety of reasons, including hardship such as conflicts with the length of the trial, personal issues and predisposition as to the trial’s outcome. The defense and prosecution have a limited number of excusals at their disposal.

The trial is expected to take three weeks. Attorneys had previously agreed to select four alternate jurors in addition to the 12-member jury due to the expected length of the trial.

In the event one of the 12 jurors could not continue to serve during the course of the trial, an alternate would replace them.

Alternate jurors listen to all the testimony and arguments made during the trial but are excused from deliberations if they are not seated as one of the 12. In previous hearings, attorneys have said cellphone records and data will be part of the evidence presented.

Maggie Meyer was a teacher at the Chana Education Center at the time of her death. She filed for divorce in 2014, and court records show the divorce was finalized in September 2016.

Prosecutors have argued that their evidence will show Duane Meyer planned to end Maggie Meyer’s life.

The defense has argued that text messages sent by Duane Meyer before the deaths were only part of a “contentious” divorce and not indicative of anything nefarious.