Joe Verma will have to face a Kelowna jury after all.
The man charged with the first-degree murder of Brittney Irving asked last month to have his trial moved outside the city. A judge denied his application and ruled Thursday the hearing will take place at the Kelowna Law Courts in September, as scheduled.
It's believed Verma, 30, is concerned about media coverage of Irving's death in 2010 and his arrest months later. His lawyer Jordan Watt wouldn't comment on why he requested another trial location.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Alison Beames banned his arguments for the move from publication.
Verma's trial, set for six to eight weeks, begins Sept. 3. Lawyers will argue the admissibility of evidence at a voir dire, which should take a week or so in June.
RCMP believe Verma killed Irving, a 24-year-old Kelowna woman, on April 6, 2010.
Investigators say he shot her when the two met to make a marijuana deal.
Irving's 2001 Ford Explorer was found parked in a pullout on Philpott Road near Highway 33 in Joe Rich. Police discovered her body a few weeks later in another area.
Verma is charged with murder and robbery. Assuming he doesn't make bail, he will have spent three years in custody when his trial begins.