Former NYPD officer Gilberto Valle was already convicted in the plot. Now, a New Jersey man and a former Manhattan school librarian will answer to conspiracy charges.
About 90 prospective jurors will be introduced to the case before they answer nine written questions meant to ensure they can remain fair and impartial despite the lurid nature of some of the trial evidence.
Prosecutors say 23-year-old Michael Vanhise and 61-year-old Robert Christopher Asch conspired with Valle over the course of several years.
According to investigators, Vanhise spoke online with Valle about killing his own wife, sister-in- law and several children.
No one was harmed, and defense lawyers insist the charges arose from a misinterpretation by the government of the sharing online of sexual fantasies among the men.
Valle is awaiting sentencing.
U.S. District Judge Paul G. Gardephe plans to read to jurors an introduction to the questionnaire that says the government is likely to introduce emails and recorded conversations between the defendants and others involving discussions of kidnapping, raping, torturing and killing women and children.
Defense attorneys were expected to "argue, among other things, that their emails and conversations were sexual fantasy and imaginary role-play, that they never acted on, or intended to act on, these fantasies, and that they never intended to, and never did, kidnap, rape, torture, or murder anyone," according to the introduction.
The judge planned to warn jurors that they will not be asked to address the legality of a sexual fetish website where Vanhise and Asch first met and where sexually violent and sexually deviant conduct is portrayed in images and videos.
"It is vitally important that those chosen to serve on this jury not have such strong reactions to these topics and practices that it will be difficult for them to be fair and impartial," the introduction adds.
Among other questions, jurors will be asked how much time they typically spend on the Internet and whether they can be fair despite evidence showing Vanhise and Asch accessed a website devoted to deviant sexual behavior, including highly sexualized violent conduct, bondage and sadomasochism.
Both men have been held without bail since their arrests.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report)
