Claremont serial killings: Fathers come face-to-face with accused for the first time

The man accused of the Claremont serial killings has appeared in person in a Perth court to hear an application for a trial by judge alone has been approved.

Bradley Robert Edwards has pleaded not guilty to the murders of Sarah Spiers, Jane Rimmer and Ciara Glennon in the late 1990s.

For the first time today fathers Don Spiers and Denis Glennon were in the same room as the man accused of their daughters' murders.

The accused had previously appeared via video link from prison.

Prosecutors will allege Sarah Spiers was Mr Edwards' first victim.

The 18-year-old disappeared while waiting for a taxi after celebrating Australia Day in 1996.

Her body has never been found.

Mr Edwards also denies he murdered 23-year-old Jane Rimmer less than six months later and 27-year-old Ciara Glennon, who was last seen in March 1997.

Both bodies were discovered in bushland.

The 49-year-old former Telstra technician has also pleaded not guilty to breaking into a Huntingdale home in 1988 and detaining a woman, as well as abducting then raping a 17-year-old girl at the Karakatta Cemetery in 1995.

Prosecutors had applied for a trial by judge alone, instead of a jury.

Today, both parties agreed to the submission.

The trial, which will begin next year, is expected to be one of WA's biggest and longest-running.