WOODSTOCK — A trial date has been set for accused killer John Douglas Robinson but it is still uncertain whether it will take place in Oxford County.
Robinson, who is charged with the first-degree murder and dismemberment of 26-year-old Clifford Fair, will stand trial beginning on Nov. 7, 2011.
The trial is expected to last five weeks, starting with a week to review applications.
In July the Crown attorney’s office will also face applications from Robinson’s defence designed to change the location of the trial and quash the direct indictment of Robinson by the Attorney General’s office.
Last June murder charges were dismissed against Robinson after the presiding judge found “insufficient evidence” linking his actions to the death of 26-year-old Clifford Fair.
On June 29 the Attorney General overturned that decision through a direct indictment.
Fair’s remains were discovered buried in the backyard of the Princess St. home where Robinson was a tenant in November 2008.
The investigation into Fair’s disappearance began on Oct. 18, 2008, when Pauline Fair, Clifford Fair’s mother, reported to Woodstock police her son was missing.
According to a judicial summary, Pauline Fair said she had last seen Clifford Fair when he had visited his six-year-old son at her Woodstock home on Sept. 18.
After interviewing his roommate and employer, police later learned Clifford Fair had not been seen since late September 2008.
The Oxford Community Police Service later received a phone call on Nov. 18, 2008, from a man claiming to have information about an alleged homicide. Police learned that Amy Gilbert- Cassidy, Robinson’s former domestic partner, had disclosed to some people that she had a connection to the case, the judicial statement said.
Gilbert-Cassidy pleaded guilty in June 2009 to being an accessory to the alleged murder of Fair and was sentenced to a total of 31 months in prison. With the two-for-one credit given for the time she spent in pre-sentencing custody, she received a total sentence of 10 months.