Jury selection started Tuesday morning in the case of the state of Indiana v. Zachariah Konkle of Warsaw for the murder of Michael J. Steele.

The jury selection began at 8:30 a.m. in Jackson Circuit Court at the judicial center in Brownstown.

The murder charge is in connection to a fight between Konkle and Steele during closing time at the Jackson County Fair on July 27, 2021. Both men reportedly worked with Poor Jack Amusements.

The fight occurred after a family attending the fair asked Konkle if he could find someone in charge because someone around the Long Shot game on the midway had made fun of their special needs child and wanted to file a complaint.

Konkle told the family he would take care of the problem and confronted a man operating the game, who was not Steele, about the incident.

When police asked Konkle if he had contacted anyone in charge of the Poor Jack workers, Konkle said he did not.

Konkle said Steele approached him, and fighting ensued with Steele reportedly punching Konkle on the side of the head. Konkle said he punched him back but could not remember if he hit him. Konkle said he then laid on Steele’s back while he was face down on the ground gasping for air.

A witness said once Steele’s body went limp and he stopped breathing, Konkle got off of him.

Another witness and Konkle both performed CPR on Steele until law enforcement arrived.

At the time, Konkle was initially charged with strangulation after the fight that led to Steele’s hospitalization, according to a probable cause affidavit written by Detective Mark Holt with the Jackson County Sheriff’s Department.

Steele was first taken to Schneck Medical Center in Seymour and then transferred to Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he later died from his injuries.

Holt said Konkle said he had taken things into his own hands instead of contacting the person in charge, and he shouldn’t have done that.