EASTON, Pa.—An eastern Pennsylvania man has gone on trial on charges of having killed his housemate a dozen years ago.

Northampton County prosecutors allege that 56-year-old Robert Schmidt of Bath shot 26-year-old Robert Sarko to death in 2000 and buried his body in Moore Township, where the victim's remains were found two years later.

Assistant District Attorney Robert Eyer told jurors Tuesday that the defendant then cashed Sarko's disability checks and siphoned funds from his bank accounts.

And he cited testimony from another former roommate who says Schmidt confessed to the murder and said authorities wouldn't find the body "for a million years."

But defense attorney Alexander Karam said that person had given conflicting accounts and wasn't to be trusted. He says authorities have the wrong man.