Chris Falconer jury selected in Amber Kirwan murder
Chris Falconer charged with 1st-degree murder in her death, stands by not guilty plea
The jury has been selected in the Chris Falconer trial. Falconer is accused of killing Nova Scotia teen Amber Kirwan more than two years ago.
Christopher Alexander Falconer, who stands by his original not guilty plea, is charged with first degree murder in the 19-year-old's death. Her body was found buried in a remote part of Pictou County in 2011 after weeks of searching.
Falconer's trial began on Monday with jury selection.
Selecting the jury, from a candidate pool of more than 400 people, proved tricky.
Emotional case
Defence lawyer Mike Taylor had expected it would take at least a day to settle on a jury.
"They wanted to have a large number to choose from given the notoriety of the case and to make sure they were able to get people who were not too familiar with any of the parties who might have been involved, whether they be police officers or civilian witnesses or the accused or family members or things like that," he said.
When the judge asked which potential jurors have a conflict of interest in the Falconer case, 27 people lined up to explain their situation, reported the CBC's Angela MacIvor.
Taylor said none of the courtrooms could accommodate hundreds of people so they moved to the deCoste Centre for jury selection.
He said the first-degree murder trial will be heated once it gets underway.
"I expect there will be a lot of emotional evidence hearing from friends of Amber Kirwan's and family members and it's going to be an emotional process I think for most people involved and it's going to be long," he said.
The Crown said it will have 42 witnesses testifying at the trial.
It's scheduled to last until Jan. 31.