A jury was seated Thursday in the trial of a Minnesota truck driver and former National Guardsman accused of killing six deer hunters and injuring two more in the woods of northwest Wisconsin in 2004.

The panel of 10 women and four men, will head Friday to Sawyer County, population 16,000, for the most high-profile trial to hit this region, known mostly for its thick forests and vast lakes.

In fact, the day after the shootings occurred — the second day of Wisconsin's deer hunting season — Sawyer County District Attorney Thomas Van Roy requested that a special prosecutor from the state attorney general's office handle the case, citing "limited staff resources" and a heavy pending case load. And the jury was selected in Madison, Wis., where there would be a larger pool.

Chai Soua Vang, 36, a Hmong refugee and father of six living in St. Paul, faces life in prison on six counts of murder and three counts of attempted murder for the Nov. 21, 2004. There is no death penalty in Wisconsin.

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The defendant was captured hours after the shootings and initially told police that one of the men took Vang's gun and led him around as he shot each member of the party.

He later recanted his story and admitted to opening fire on the men after they threatened and taunted him with racial slurs upon discovering him on private property, according to police reports.

The self-acknowledged marksman told police he inadvertently wandered onto the land when he did not see signs marking the property and took refuge in a tree stand to get his bearings.

The property's co-owner, Terry Willers, discovered Vang with his rifle and ordered him off the land.

As Willers trailed a few feet behind Vang to ensure he left the property, he radioed back to the campsite to inform his friends of the situation.

Moments later, he was joined by fellow hunters Lauren Hesebeck, Robert Crotteau, Joe Crotteau, Dennis Drew and Mark Roidt. All of the men were unarmed except for Willers.

The men admitted to using profanity and threatening to call police in an effort to spur Vang from the property, but what happened next will be crucial for the jury in weighing whether Vang was provoked to defend himself or if his actions were truly malicious.

Willers and Hesebeck, the two survivors, told police that as they were returning to their ATVs to leave the area, from about 25 yards away they saw Vang raise his gun and point it at them.

Willers raised his gun and yelled for Vang to leave, they say, but Vang opened fire.

As Willers dropped to the ground from a shot to the neck, he said he heard multiple gunshots and watched Drew and Roidt fall to the ground around him.

Hesebeck told police that he sought cover behind an ATV, but Vang approached and shot him three times before taking aim at Joe and Robert Crotteau as they tried to flee.

Autopsy reports indicate both men died from gunshot wounds to their backs.

Meanwhile, as Jessica Willers and Allan Laski drove past Vang on an ATV to assist their friends, he shot them both multiple times in the back, killing them instantly.

Vang told police that the group of men surrounded him and taunted him with racial epithets.

He said he opened fire only after Willers took his rifle off his shoulder and aimed it at him.

From that point, both sides tell consistent stories, up to the point where Vang allegedly returned to Hesebeck and commented, "You're not dead yet?" before shooting him again.

Vang was charged with two counts of attempted murder for the two separate attacks against Hesebeck.

To prove self-defense, Wisconsin law requires only that the defendant truly believed his life was in immediate jeopardy, regardless of whether his victims meant to pose such a threat.

Neither side was available to comment before the opening statements, which are slated for Saturday. The trial will be streamed on Court TV Extra.