The man charged with killing Brittney Irving wants to be tried outside Kelowna.
Joe Verma will apply to change the city where his murder trial is held. His lawyer confirmed he'll argue for a different venue at a one-day hearing in Kelowna on Dec. 14, but said little else about it.
"You'll have to see," said Jordan Watt, who's based in Victoria.
A judge and jury are scheduled to try Verma, 30, in Kelowna next September. The hearing is set for six to eight weeks. Lawyers must set extra time to argue the admissibility of certain evidence before the trial.
If the hearing goes ahead as scheduled, Verma will have spent three years behind bars since his arrest, assuming he doesn't get out on bail before then.
The Crown ordered that Verma skip his preliminary hearing last December, presumably because convincing witnesses to testify twice will be difficult. He may ask to be tried in the Vancouver Law Courts, where security is tighter.
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 an unrelated area.
Verma is charged with first-degree murder and robbery.