Trial begins for Thomas Fast

Jury selection for Thomas Fast, the man charged with the 2007 murder of his stepmother, Tara resident Susan Fast, begins today at the Manatee County Courthouse.

The beginning of the trial marks the end to a string of pretrial discrepancies. Thomas Fast’s request that his case be transferred to the federal courts was denied, as was Public Defender Franklin Roberts’ argument that Thomas Fast’s delusions made him incompetent to stand trial.

According to prosecutors, Thomas Fast stabbed to death Susan Fast sometime between June 29-30, 2007. Police later found her dismembered body in a retention pond in Lakewood Ranch.