Manawatū man charged with murdering Whanganui man Brett Hall goes to trial in Palmerston North

The trial at Palmerston North District Court is expected to take eight weeks.

The trial of the man accused of murdering a Whanganui man who has been missing for seven years is due to start in Palmerston North today.

Brett Hall went missing in 2011 from his Pitangi Track property off the Whanganui River Road between Parikino and Atene, about 30km outside of Whanganui.

Hall was 47 at the time and his body has never been found.

The 53-year-old Manawatū man charged with his murder faces a jury trial expected to take up to eight weeks.

He was arrested in June 2014, just five days after Hall's mother, Lee Hall, made a public plea for information.

Operation Parikino searched for Brett Hall in 2011.

Hall was paroled from prison in 2009 after serving a seven and a half year sentence for drug dealing and unlawfully possessing a pistol.

The Whanganui Chronicle will follow the trial throughout the day.