![['An RCMP officer escorts Allan Winfield Potter outside Harbour Grace Provincial Court in this file photo.']](https://saltwire.imgix.net/allan-potter-3162688.png?cs=srgb&fit=crop&h=568&w=847&dpr=1&auto=enhance%2Ccompress%2Cformat)
Jury selection is underway in St. John’s for the murder trial of Allan Potter.
Two rooms at Newfoundland and Labrador Supreme Court are packed with potential jurors, who are waiting as Justice Garrett Handrigan is calling forward those who believe they have a reason for exemption.
Crown prosecutor Sheldon Steeves read a list of more than two dozen names to the court — including police officers from this province and Ontario, doctors, paramedics and others — telling the potential jurors these are people he and fellow prosecutor Erin Matthews plan to call as witnesses at trial. Anyone connected to them will be disqualified from serving on the jury.
Potter, 55, is charged with murdering Dale Porter, 39, who was found stabbed on his North River Property in June 2014. The father of two later died in hospital.
Potter’s trial is expected to last five weeks. A second man has also been charged the murder and will go to trial at a later date.
Potter is represented by Randy Piercey and Jon Noonan.
Potter is said to be a member of the Vikings motorcycle club. The investigation into Porter’s death sparked Operation Bombard, a joint RNC/RCMP investigation into the alleged criminal activity of the Vikings.
A number of men were arrested and charged with drug-related offences as part of that operation.
