Christopher Garnier will go to trial late next year on a charge of second-degree murder in the death of off-duty Truro police officer Catherine Campbell.

Dates for a five-week jury trial were set Thursday morning in Nova Scotia Supreme Court in Halifax. Garnier appeared via videolink from the jail where he is being held.

His trial is scheduled to begin on Nov. 20, 2017.

Lawyers for Garnier and the Crown will also appear before the trial judge some time in the next year to argue over what evidence the jury will be allowed to see at trial. Two weeks have been set aside for those arguments.

Truro police officer Catherine Campbell was killed in September 2015 and her body found near the Macdonald Bridge in Halifax. (CBC)

Garnier's lawyer, Joel Pink, also told the judge presiding at Thursday morning's brief appearance that he will be looking for a date some time in the near future to argue for a bail hearing. Garnier has been held in jail since September of last year, shortly after Campbell's body was discovered under the Macdonald Bridge.

Court documents obtained by CBC News show police believe Campbell was killed in an apartment on McCully Street in central Halifax in September 2015. The documents say Campbell's body was wheeled through the streets in a green bin before being dumped under the bridge.

In addition to murder, Garnier is also charged with interfering with a dead body.

A large contingent of Garnier's family was in court for Thursday morning's appearance.