A first degree murder trial begins today in Kelowna for the man accused of the slaying of 18-year-old Armstrong resident Taylor Van Diest.

The BC Supreme Court trial for 28-year-old Matthew Foerster of Cherryville, is slated to run for six weeks, but the first three weeks will be devoted to legal arguments and jury selection.

Open court hearings, with the jury present, are not expected to begin until March 24th.

Foerster was arrested in Ontario in April 2012, more than five months after Van Diest was followed, attacked and left for dead as she walked along a path in Armstrong on Halloween night. She died early the next morning.