Borce Ristevski has been granted state-funded Legal Aid as he fights allegations he murdered his wife Karen in Melbourne, meaning taxpayers will foot the bill.
It's also been revealed in court that detectives tapped phone calls and planted listening devices as they investigated Ristevski over the alleged killing.
The 54-year-old faced Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday accused of murdering Ms Ristevski, 47, on the morning she went missing from the couple's Avondale Heights home in June 2016.
Ms Ristevski, a fashion boutique owner, had been missing for eight months before her remains were spotted by a bushwalker at Macedon Regional Park in February 2017.
Her husband was charged with murder 10 months later in December, and has been in custody since.
Ristevski's lawyers are now poring over a 22,000-page brief of evidence as they look to defend the accused killer.
Defence lawyer Sam Norton sought an adjournment on Wednesday for more time to analyse the vast brief of evidence.
"I have done a lot of work on this case already and I have got a reasonable sense of it," Mr Norton said.
"One of the things that will take a lot of time is the CCTV footage.
"There is one particular witness who talks about tracking a particular vehicle.
"On top of that, we have the listening device material and the telephone intercept material."
A car similar to Ms Ristevski's black Mercedes-Benz coupe was spotted by CCTV cameras at Diggers Rest on the day she went missing, police have previously said.
Magistrate Suzanne Cameron noted there was a large volume of evidence that covered a range of "topics".
Up to 80 witnesses may be called at a future committal hearing to determine if there is enough evidence for Ristevski to stand trial.
The magistrate said several witnesses will speak about the "background and history" of the case.
This type of evidence may be used in relation to motive, the court was told.
Mr Norton said Ristevski had been granted Legal Aid funding this week.
Ristevski faced court by video link from prison.
He was one of the pallbearers at a private funeral service for his wife at Essendon's St John's Uniting Church.
The case was adjourned for another committal mention on May 16.
A tentative date of July 2 was set for a four-week committal hearing
Australian Associated Press
