PORTLAND – The trial of Jeffrey “Russ” Gorman began Monday with prosecutors acknowledging that no physical evidence links the Alabama native to the murder of 25-year-old Amy St. Laurent.

The disappearance of St. Laurent from a Portland nightclub Oct. 20, 2001, spurred an intensive search. The South Berwick woman’s body was found seven weeks later in a shallow grave off Route 22 in Scarborough, near the house where Gorman lived with his mother.

Assistant Attorney General Fern LaRochelle said in his opening statement Monday that St. Laurent died of a single gunshot wound to the head, but he acknowledged that without physical evidence, including the murder weapon, the case against Gorman would be circumstantial.

“The examination did not reveal any evidence linking the killer to her,” LaRochelle said.

Also Monday, seven prosecution witnesses, including the state medical examiner, testified in Cumberland County Superior Court.

Some of them recalled that Gorman said that he wanted to have sex with St. Laurent on the night she disappeared.

Gorman, 23, went on the lam after St. Laurent’s body was unearthed Dec. 8, 2001. Besides the gunshot wound, there were no other signs of physical trauma.

Gorman, who was arrested Dec. 12, 2001, in his hometown of Troy, Ala., after a standoff with police, pleaded innocent to a murder charge and has been held at the Cumberland County Jail while awaiting trial.

Prosecutors are expected to call at least 15 witnesses during the trial. Gorman’s mother is not being allowed to watch the proceedings because she may later be a witness.

If convicted, Gorman could spend the rest of his life in prison.