A man accused of murdering Christchurch schoolgirl Jade Bayliss will stand trial next year.
Jeremy McLaughlin, 34, will stand trial at the High Court next April to defend a charge that he murdered the 13-year-old last year.
The labourer from Waltham is also accused of burgling her home and setting fire to it on November 10.
The date of April 8, 2013 was set down at a pre-trial conference at the High Court in Christchurch this morning.
McLaughlin will remain in custody until the trial.
A criminal harassment charge relating to a separate incident involving the dead girl's mother has been withdrawn.
Another Christchurch man, Jolon Sweeney, 40, has also been committed for trial on the same date on a charge of assisting McLaughlin to avoid arrest on the burglary charge. He is on bail at an Auckland address.
Jade, a Cashmere High School student, was found dead in her burning house.
She had been at home that day because she was too ill to go to school.
