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Intruders, his defense attorney suggested, must have encountered and killed 45-year-old Jan Roseboro that night in July 2008, as she sat reading outside the Reinholds home.
But prosecutors contend it was Roseboro, 42, a director of the family's funeral business in Denver, who killed his wife and the mother of their four children.
His motive, prosecutors said, was an extramarital affair.
Roseboro's trial for criminal homicide begins today in Lancaster County Court.
The trial is expected to take about two weeks, with jury selection scheduled to begin this morning.
Judge James P. Cullen is presiding over the trial.
Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman, who is prosecuting the case along with First Assistant District Attorney Christopher Larsen, said earlier that Roseboro was "obsessed" with the other woman and killed his wife to avoid "a messy divorce."
Defense attorney Allan Sodomsky of Reading said Roseboro and his wife were happily married and suggested a random intruder entered the fenced-in pool area and killed Mrs. Roseboro on the evening of July 22, 2008.
It was about 11 p.m. when Roseboro called 911, telling police he had been inside his West Main Street home, came outside to check on his wife and found her, fully clothed, in the water.
The death was ruled a homicide after an autopsy revealed Mrs. Roseboro not only drowned, but had been beaten and strangled.
Three of the couple's four children were inside the home asleep at the time of their mother's death. Their fourth and oldest child was at a friend's house.
After learning of Mrs. Roseboro's death, Michael Roseboro's mistress, identified as Angela Funk, told investigators about the affair with Roseboro.
Funk also said that at the time of Mrs. Roseboro's death, she was pregnant with Michael Roseboro's child.
Funk, who reportedly has since given birth to a son, is not charged with any crime and is expected to testify during the trial.
Among other things, Funk is expected to testify that Roseboro told her he was planning to tell his wife that night that their marriage was over.
Police confiscated numerous computer communications between Roseboro and Funk, according to court documents, "confirming an ongoing sexual relationship between the two," including Roseboro's e-mails to Funk.
Among the e-mails, Roseboro wrote to Funk, "I can't wait to make you my wife. ... I can't live without you in my life."
E-mail: jkelley@lnpnews.com
