CHESAPEAKE, Va. (Reuters) -- The homicide trial of Lee Malvo, the 18-year-old sniper suspect linked to 10 killings in the Washington area, was to begin on Monday in this southern Virginia city, as the prosecution of his alleged accomplice moved toward a close in a neighboring courthouse.

Malvo is charged with two counts of murder and a weapons violation in the death of Linda Franklin, an FBI analyst who was shot to death as she loaded purchases into her car at a parking lot in Falls Church, Virginia, on Oct. 14, 2002.

His trial, like that of his 42-year-old traveling companion John Muhammad, was moved from the U.S. capital's Virginia suburbs some 200 miles (320km) southeast, in search of an unbiased jury, something deemed impossible in the region where the 23-day sniper spree took place last year.

Though they are on trial for different murders, both defendants could face execution if convicted. Both are charged with two counts of murder for a single death, and both trials offer a test of Virginia's new antiterrorism law, enacted after the Sept. 11, 2001, hijack attacks.

Defense attorneys in Malvo's case plan an insanity defense, arguing that their young client was brainwashed by Muhammad.

Jury selection is the first order of business in Malvo's trial; if the jury in his case finds him guilty, they must also decide whether he should be sentenced to death or life in prison without possibility of parole.

Defense attorney Michael Arif said he expected jury selection to last about one week.

Prosecutors in Muhammad's trial in nearby Virginia Beach were winding down their case, which has included recordings of anguished calls for help and emotional testimony from victims who survived the sniper shootings and family members of the dead.

Malvo has appeared before Muhammad's jury several times, not as a witness -- he has made it clear he would cite his constitutional right against self-incrimination and refuse to testify -- but so that he could be identified by those who said they recall seeing him near shooting scenes.

Muhammad's trial has been front-page news and daily fare on local television and radio throughout southeastern Virginia since his case opened on Oct. 14.