The trial began this morning for a 36-year-old woman charged in the stabbing death of a man in his Marwell home over a year ago.

Karen Rodrigue, charged with second degree murder, is scheduled to stand trial over the next two weeks in connection with the death of Gerald Glen Dawson, a 64-year-old elder.

The Yukon Supreme Court trial will be presided over byJustice Leigh Gower and 12 jurors, who were selected earlier this morning.

The jury of 12 consists of seven women and five men.

While the trial is scheduled to run for two weeks, Crown prosecutor David McWhinnie said in his opening submission that it would likely last about eight days.

While Rodrigue has plead not guilty to murder, she did enter a guilty plea for manslaughter, McWhinnie told the court.

The facts are that in the early hours of June 17, 2004 she stabbed Dawson, who subsequently died as a result of the wounds, he told the jury.

'The more difficult problem for you is whether that is manslaughter or murder,' he said.

Rodrigue says that Dawson committed a crime against her, McWhinnie said.

This is significant on two main grounds for the Crown, he outlined.

First, Rodrigue's account of the events that transpired that night is not accurate, according to the Crown.

Secondly, in some cases, the reasons for which a person kills someone can lead to a lighter sentence.

McWhinnie said, however, the circumstances of Dawson's killing do not merit the lower sentence of manslaughter.

The Crown will bring forward a variety of witnesses, including those with scientific evidence, as well as personal accounts of the kind of person Dawson was, McWhinnie said, in order to piece together the events on the night of the killing.

Most of the evidence will revolve around the time immediately before and after Dawson's death, he said, including the 10 days after he was killed before the body was found.

Police evidence, including an interview with Rodrigue, will also be brought before the court.

He told the jury that cases in real life do not mirror the fictions played out on television the case will not be like CSI.

'This is a real case, involving real people and real conflict,' he told the jury. 'And someone ended up dead.'

Moments before the trial began, Gower directed the jury to use common sense when listening to evidence over the coming weeks.

'You should most of all, ladies and gentlemen, use your common sense,' he said.

Dawson was found dead in his home in the Marwell area, 10 days after he was killed.

Police found the body after a concerned friend phoned to report Dawson had not been seen in about a week's time.

Rodrigue had a preliminary hearing last November, which found there was enough evidence to go to trial.

She has been held in custody at Whitehorse Correctional Centre since her arrest over a year ago.

The trial was scheduled to continue this afternoon.