Trial to begin in local trucker's murder

The murder trial of a man charged with killing a Schoharie County truck driver begins tomorrow in South Carolina.

Willie Pelzer, a South Carolina man, is accused of shooting Jason Rivenburg, who was father to a young son and husband to a woman who would soon deliver twins.

On Sunday Rivenburg's widow, Hope, told CBS 6 News she and other family members are in South Carolina for the trial.

"I want to face him for what he’s done and I guess, for closure, to try to understand why it happened," she said.

Ms. Rivenburg said she made the drive with her parents and Jason's mother, sister and aunt.  She says a group called Concerned Citizens of Calhoun County held a fundraiser for them and has putting them up during the trial, which is expected to last about a week.

Jason Rivenburg was 35 years old. He pulled off I-26 on March 5, twelve miles away from his destination. It was too early for him to make his delivery. Someone shot him as he sat in his truck. Police said it was a robbery. Two other men in their early twenties were charged as accessories.

Since the murder, there has been an effort to pass a federal law designed to help truckers stay safe on the highway.

http://www.jhlrivenburg.com/