Some prospective jurors already have formed opinions about the guilt or innocence of Rabbi Fred J. Neulander. Others have employers who won't cover their salary for the full length of Neulander's pending capital murder trial.

They were among the 14 potential jurors excused Monday by Superior Court Presiding Criminal Judge Linda Baxter on the 21st day of jury selection.

Two other Camden County residents interviewed by the judge were added to the pool of jurors who may hear the Cherry Hill rabbi's trial, set to begin Oct. 15.

One woman interviewed by the court, a dental technician, was excused after saying she might obtain a bank loan to get her through the trial if she were selected. Another woman said it would be impossible to replace the services she provides in "animal-assisted therapy" for people in Philadelphia senior citizen centers and nursing homes.

A third woman, an elected municipal official who works for the county, was excused when she said a co-worker had expressed a strong opinion about Neulander's involvement in the beating death of his wife, Carol, on Nov. 1, 1994.

Selected for the panel, which now stands at 54 people, were a man who works for the state Division of Motor Vehicles and a woman who handles payroll for a construction firm. Once the pool reaches 60 people, attorneys on both sides will whittle it to a panel of 16 who will hear the case.

A change of venue motion, filed last week by Neulander's attorneys, was rescheduled Monday for the second time. It now is set for Oct. 10.

The jury selection process has moved on schedule. But defense attorneys Jeffrey Zucker and Dennis Wixted argue the integrity of the pool of about 1,000 potential jurors was diminished by extensive pretrial publicity about the slaying, the investigation, and the arrest of two men who confessed to carrying out the killing at the rabbi's behest.