Hundreds of people have been summoned to attend the Toronto convention centre as jury selection begins in the re-trial of Robert Baltovich.

There is not a large enough courtroom in the city so the more than 300 people that make up the potential jury pool will receive a questionnaire Monday and appear before the judge, Crown and defence lawyers in a large theatre at the convention centre.

Mr. Baltovich, 42, is charged with second-degree murder in the death of his girlfriend Elizabeth Bain, who disappeared in June 1990. Her body has never been found and she was last seen by her mother after leaving home to attend the Scarborough campus of the University of Toronto.

A jury convicted Mr. Baltovich 16 years ago, rejecting the defence theory at his first trial that an individual known as the “Scarborough rapist” may have been responsible.

It was not known at the time of the first trial that the Scarborough rapist was Paul Bernardo.

Mr. Baltovich spent eight years in prison before he was released on bail in 2000. After numerous delays, the Ontario Court of Appeal finally heard his appeal in the fall of 2004.
In December 2004, the Court of Appeal ruled that Justice John O’Driscoll made numerous legal errors and ordered a new trial for Mr. Baltovich.

The re-trial was supposed to begin last fall, but on the eve of jury selection, Justice David Watt was appointed to the Court of Appeal.

Superior Court Justice David McCombs will preside over the re-trial.

Some of the potential jurors will be excused immediately and then the selection process to come up with 12 jurors will resume later this week.

The Crown is expected to deliver its opening arguments on April 7, after a jury is selected.