WOODSTOCK, Ont. – A preliminary hearing for one of two people charged with the abduction and first-degree murder of eight-year-old Victoria Stafford earlier this year is set to begin next June.
Michael Rafferty, 28, appeared in a Woodstock, Ont., courtroom Friday via video link.
He is expected to plead not guilty and will appear in court again on Feb. 17 to confirm the preliminary hearing dates of June 21-July 13, a spokesman for the Ministry of the Attorney General confirmed.
Rafferty’s co-accused, Terri-Lynne McClintic, waived her right to a preliminary hearing on Thursday, meaning she will go straight to trial.
Stafford went missing last April on her way home from school, prompting an extensive public and police search. Her remains were eventually found in a rural field just east of Mount Forest, Ont., in July.
Rafferty and McClintic were both arrested in May. They are being tried separately.
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