A jury has been chosen to try Christopher Alexander Falconer, the man accused of killing Pictou County’s Amber Kirwan.

Falconer, 31, was escorted into the Pictou courthouse by sheriff’s deputies before being transported to the nearby deCoste Centre on Monday.

Hundreds of people were called to jury duty at the deCoste Centre - a 420seat performing arts centre big enough to host the potential jurors.

Falconer is charged with kidnapping and first-degree murder in the death of 19-year-old Kirwan, who disappeared from a New Glasgow bar on Oct. 9, 2011.

She was supposed to meet her boyfriend at Big Al's, a nearby convenience store, but he said she never showed up.

Kirwan’s disappearance sparked an intense search, with police, ground search and rescue teams and RCMP conducting extensive ground and water searches for clues.

Family, friends and members of the typically-quiet community launched a massive campaign to find her, handing out thousands of posters nationwide.

Kirwan’s remains were found in a wooded area of Heathbell, N.S. on Nov. 5, almost a month after she disappeared.

Falconer was charged in her death in May 2012.

Kirwan’s disappearance and death caused an outpouring of shock and grief in the community and Crown attorney Bill Gorman expects the testimony will be emotional.

“Emotions are part of it, but telling the truth, it’s a truth-seeking exercise, that’s what it’s about,” says Gorman.

Defence lawyer Mike Taylor says he briefly considered applying for a change of venue for the trial.

“It was something we looked into doing at some point, but we decided it wasn’t going to be a successful application so we decided to forgo that,” says Taylor.

Among the first of the 42 witnesses the Crown intends to call are Kirwan’s parents, Donald and Marjorie.

“It’s important that you hear from Donald and Marjorie Kirwan because you can’t hear from Amber Kirwan herself,” says Gorman.

It took all Monday for a jury of 13 to be selected for the trial, for which a full month has been set aside.

Opening remarks and testimony are expected to begin Tuesday.

With files from CTV Atlantic's Dan MacIntosh