New dates have been selected for a preliminary inquiry in the case of a 23-year-old medical student charged with the murder of a fellow Dalhousie University student in Halifax.

William Sandeson appeared in a Halifax courtroom via a video link from a Halifax-area jail.

At a previous focus hearing in November, six days spread over three months were selected for the preliminary hearing, which will determine if there is enough evidence to warrant a trial.

However, Crown prosecutor Susan MacKay and defence lawyer Eugene Tan have agreed to extend the hearing to eight days, all of them in February.

Sandeson is charged with first-degree murder in the death of 22-year-old Taylor Samson, a physics student at Dalhousie.

The charge was laid Aug. 20, four days after Samson was reported missing in Halifax. His body has yet to be found.