The trial of a former St. Albert man in a murder case that made headlines around the world is set to get under way this week.
Mark Andrew Twitchell, who was living at a home in Deer Ridge in October 2008, will stand trial for first-degree murder in the death of Johnny Brian Altinger.
On Monday, media reports indicated 12 jurors and two alternates were selected after seven hours at the courthouse.
The case is expected to start this afternoon and run until the end of April. Twitchell has been held in custody without bail since his arrest.
The case made national and international headlines because police allege Altinger's murder was remarkably similar to a script Twitchell wrote for a movie he was making around the same time.
In the weeks before his arrest, police searched Twitchell's home in Deer Ridge and a rented garage in Edmonton.
Altinger went missing on Oct. 10, 2008. His friends became concerned when they began receiving emails and messages indicating he was moving to Costa Rica with a woman he had just met and was quitting his job with no notice to his employers.
Police also charged Twitchell with attempted murder in the case of a man police allege went to the same garage a few weeks prior and was also attacked, though that man managed to flee.
The case against Twitchell is exhaustive and was spelled out in some detail at his bail hearing, but the details are covered by a publication ban.
The Gazette will have continuing coverage of the trial both online at stalbertgazette.com and in print.
