Travis Vader's defence lawyer is expected to argue in court this week for a judicial stay of proceeding, citing an abuse of process by the Crown. (CBC)

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An extraordinary week-long hearing begins this morning in an Edmonton courtroom that will expose and challenge the actions of the RCMP and Crown prosecutors in a high-profile murder case.

Travis Vader is accused of murdering elderly St. Albert couple Lyle and Marie McCann in July 2010.  His first-degree murder trial is scheduled to begin next March.

But Vader's lawyer, Brian Beresh, said he doesn't believe the case should ever go to trial. He is asking for a judicial stay of proceedings, citing an abuse of process by the Crown.

The case has a long and torturous history. It took RCMP almost two years to lay the first-degree murder charges.

The Crown decided to skip a preliminary hearing and proceed by direct indictment. Just before the trial was supposed to begin in April 2014, the Crown stayed the charges against Vader.

A livid Beresh told reporters at the time: "If this stay was entered to try to adjourn the case and recommence later, we would consider any recommencement to be a clear abuse of process."

Nine months later, the Crown reactivated the first-degree murder charges against Vader.

"I am very shocked and amazed that this would happen," Beresh said.

The prominent Edmonton criminal lawyer has been openly critical about the RCMP investigation and the Crown's actions in the case.

In March 2014, he told the media the evidence "was shoddily gathered, and it was a bunch of strings that were never tied together. My professional assessment is that there was not now and there never was a realistic or serious chance of any conviction."

This week, Beresh is expected to grill RCMP investigators and Edmonton chief Crown prosecutor Michelle Doyle on the witness stand.

It will provide a fascinating glimpse into the justice system that is very rarely seen.

A lawyer for the CBC and other Edmonton media outlets will apply to have a publication ban lifted so what happens in the court room can be reported.

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