An accused man will stand trial for first-degree murder in the 2003 death of a philosophy student who went missing while cycling in Ottawa, a judge has ruled.

The judge determined at a preliminary hearing on Friday that there is enough evidence to try Chris Myers, 26, in the death of 27-year-old Ardeth Wood. 

Myers will also be tried for the sexual assault of other women in the Ottawa area.

The trial date will be set in January and the trial is expected to last several months.

Wood, who was completing her PhD at the University of Waterloo, went missing on Aug. 6, 2003, while cycling near the Aviation Parkway. At the time she was visiting her family in Ottawa.

Her body was found five days later.

Myers was charged in October 2005 in relation to Wood's death. At the time, he was in police custody in North Bay on unrelated charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement.