NORFOLK, Va. (AP) - A 2013 trial date has been set for three Somali men charged with murdering four Americans aboard a yacht off the coast of Africa.
Ahmed Muse Salad, Abukar Osman Beyle and Shani Nurani Shiekh Abrar could face the death penalty if they're convicted.
The Quest's owners, Jean and Scott Adam of Marina del Rey, Calif., and friends Bob Riggle and Phyllis Macay of Seattle, were shot to death in 2011 after being taken hostage several hundred miles south of Oman. They were the first U.S. citizens killed in a wave of pirate attacks.
Prosecutors said during a scheduling hearing in federal court in Virginia on Tuesday that the trial is expected to last five or six weeks. Jury selection begins June 3, 2013.
