Trial for 1983 murder to stay in Victoria

The murder trial of a man charged over the 1983 death of a Victorian teenager will not be relocated, despite concerns about pre-trial publicity.

Lawyers for Steven James Bradley, 53, sought to have the September trial moved but on Friday, Victorian Supreme Court Justice Robert Osborn denied the application.

Bradley was extradited from Queensland last year and charged with the murder of 16-year-old Michelle Elvira Buckingham.

Bradley, formerly a dog groomer, has pleaded not guilty to the charge.

Michelle Buckingham was last seen walking towards her home after leaving the Victoria Hotel at Shepparton about 8.30pm on October 21, 1983, the day police allege Bradley murdered her.

Her body was found on November 7, 1983, in long grass beside Violet Town Road in Kialla East, with multiple stab wounds to her back and chest.

Bradley was arrested at a boarding house in Brisbane in March last year.

He remains in custody before his murder trial before the Victorian Supreme Court in September.