The start of Robert William Pickton's trial on six counts of first-degree murder will be delayed two weeks to Jan. 22, says the judge who will hear the case.

Robert William Pickton is about to go on trial charged with the murders of six women. Clockwise from top left: Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Angela Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marni Frey.

Justice James Williams told the 12 main jurors and two alternates that he changed the start date because a number of applications still have to be dealt with.

The move will prevent stopping and starting the trial once it begins  in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster and will make better use of the jurors' time, Williams said.

He said it was no one's fault and that all the parties involved were doing the best to deal with the many issues.

Outside court, defence lawyer Peter Ritchie said there wasn't much anyone could have done to prevent the delay because of volume of material to be dealt with.

He said his client, who has been in custody for nearly five years, is anxious for the trial to get underway.

Pickton was arrested following a raid on his pig farm in the Vancouver suburb of Port Coquitlam in February 2002

He faces 26 charges of first-degree murder in the deaths of women who went missing from Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.

However, the judge had earlier ordered that the trial be split and that Pickton be tried on six counts initially, to make the process more manageable.

Those involve the deaths of Sereena Abotsway, Mona Wilson, Andrea Joesbury, Brenda Wolfe, Georgina Papin and Marnie Frey.