A panel of six jurors was selected Friday in U.S. District Court in Bangor to hear testimony in the civil case of a Bangor woman who claims that her son was killed in a February 1981 fire in Lucerne by a man who admitted he ran from the burning camp.

The jurors will begin hearing testimony on Monday in the lawsuit brought by Leola Cochran, mother of Michael Cochran, whose murder remains officially unsolved, against Paul Pollard of Virginia, the man she believes killed her son. Cochran is seeking damages for emotional distress.

Attorneys for the plaintiff and the defendant presented their witness lists during Friday’s jury-selection process. The witnesses included two Maine State Police officers, a retired Lucerne fire chief, a state fire marshal, and a state medical examiner.

U.S. District Judge Clarence Newcomer, a visiting judge from Philadelphia, Pa., will preside over the case, which could last five days.

“It’s a difficult case we’re dealing with,” said attorney Jed Davis of Augusta, representing Cochran. “It was a terrible event with very strong emotions. It’s one of the most difficult cases I have ever handled.”

Defense attorney Marvin Glazier of Bangor declined to comment on the case. During the jury-selection process, the attorney said, however, that there was “absolutely no evidence to show in any way” that Pollard had been involved in the arson.

The charred body of Michael Cochran, 24, of Bangor, was found in a burned-out camp in Lucerne in 1981 one week after the fire took place. Convicted of trafficking in LSD and marijuana, Cochran had escaped from custody in December 1980 while he was being led to court for sentencing.

Three men later were indicted on murder charges in connection with the fire, but those charges were dismissed when it was discovered that a witness in the case had perjured herself. No other charges were made in the case.

Pollard later testified that he had acted as a driver in two marijuana and money robberies involving one of the three arson suspects. He said he received immunity from prosecution in return for his testimony in the robbery cases.

Pollard also admitted that he ran from the burning camp on the night that Cochran died in the structure.

During the jury-selection process, Davis asked the potential jurors about their legal and medical knowledge and whether they had strong feelings about drugs. Glazier asked the jury-pool members whether they would be affected by their normal emotional sympathy for Leola Cochran and by seeing upsetting evidence.

Commenting later that the perspective of prosecutors “is different from ours,” Davis said. “If the jury finds Pollard guilty of murder (in the civil case), it may raise some questions about why he wasn’t prosecuted for murder.”

The plaintiff’s attorney pointed out that the standards of proof were less in a civil case, which requires a preponderence of evidence, than in a criminal case, which requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt.

He also said that a majority of members in a civil jury can find liability, while a conviction by a jury in a criminal case must be unanimous.