YORK, Pa.—Opening statements are slated Wednesday in the trial of a man charged in the strangulation murder of an elderly Virginia man in a central Pennsylvania motel two years ago.

A jury was seated Tuesday in York County for the trial of 48-year-old Tracey Bradley, who is charged with murder, robbery, theft, and burglary in the May 2010 death of 72-year-old Lee Choppin of Roanoke, Va.

Prosecutors cite a videotaped interview in which they say Bradley acknowledged having put a "sleeper hold" on the victim to try to knock him out during a robbery. He says he neither robbed nor killed Choppin.

Defense attorney Kevin Hoffman told the York Dispatch that he will call a doctor to testify that he can't rule out the possibility that Choppin died of natural causes.