The trial of two people charged in the brutal slaying of a Sarnia teacher on New Year’s Day 2013 won’t be held in her hometown.

Superior Court Justice Bruce Thomas ordered Monday that Michael MacGregor, 21, and Tanya Bogdanovich, 33, will be tried outside of Sarnia-Lambton.

The pair is charged with first-degree murder in the death of Noelle Paquette, 27, whose body was found in a wooded area just outside of the city after she was last seen in downtown Sarnia.

Thomas said the publicity surrounding the case, the background of the defendants, community support for Paquette and security deficiencies at the Sarnia courthouse all weighed in his decision to move the trial.

“On strict application of the law regarding changes of venue, this case might not qualify to be moved, but I am concerned about the cumulative effect of all the relevant factors,” Thomas wrote.

“It is my responsibility to provide the applicants with not a perfect trial, but a fair one. At all cost I need to prevent the potential of a miscarriage of justice.”

The new location will be selected by the regional senior justice of the Southwest Region.

A request to move the trial was made earlier this month by lawyers representing MacGregor and Bogdanovich. A publication ban was placed on the evidence at the hearing.

In the decision, Thomas assessed several grounds for a possible venue change. Each alone didn’t necessarily prompt the order, but together formed the basis of his decision.

The judge noted that the case has been under media scrutiny and has been discussed in media both in Sarnia and across the province, but that alone wasn’t enough to move the trial.

Thomas also looked at Paquette’s legacy after her death. Hundreds of people searched for her when she went missing, more than 1,000 people attended her funeral and 2,000 came to a candlelight vigil.

The community embraced “Noelle’s Gift,” a charity that has raised $400,000 in her memory that supports underprivileged kids in the area.

Paquette also has family ties to the Sarnia courthouse. Her father is a court services officer and steps have been taken to schedule him away from the courthouse when the case has returned.

The Sarnia courthouse, Thomas said, is “marginally functional” and “far from the perfect facility for this trial.”

The building was built for the county of Lambton in the 1950s and was never intended in its early days to be used as a courthouse.

The Sarnia jail that is attached to the courthouse is at capacity, Thomas noted. MacGregor is being housed there, but Bogdanovich isn’t because there are too few segregated cells for women. She is housed in London.

How the defendants would be housed during the trial is still unknown.

Thomas said moving a trial is rare but he said he was “deeply concerned about whether an impartial jury can be assembled and whether even if assembled the horrific nature of the evidence will overwhelm all available safeguards as the jury considers the very direct loss to their community.”

jane.sims@sunmedia.ca

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