Wangoom's Steven Johnson will apply for a murder charge to be dropped during a half-day committal hearing in early August.
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Mr Johnson, 70, and Glenn Fenwick, 59, of Warrnambool, were in November last year charged by Victoria Police missing person squad detectives with the murder of missing Warrnambool man Chris Jarvis.
Mr Jarvis, then 37, was last seen when he left his family home in Warrne Road, Wangoom, about 6am on June 13, 2006.
He never arrived at work and his car - a silver 1991 Ford station wagon - was found two hours later on fire at Warrnambool's Thunder Point.
In the past few months, police officers have conducted an extensive search in the Framlingham Forest but not found Mr Jarvis' body.
Mr Johnson and Mr Fenwick appeared in the Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Friday for a committal mention hearing.
Lawyer Abbie Roodenburg, for Mr Johnson, requested a committal date be set as soon as possible.
She said it would be a submissions only committal hearing and estimated the proceeding would take half a day of court time.
Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge said he was reluctant to spit committal hearings involving the co-accused but he did.
Mr Johnson's committal hearing will be heard through the online magistrates court on August 8 and Mr Johnson will have to attend Warrnambool Magistrates Court to be part of that proceeding.
His bail was extended on his current conditions, including an electronic ankle bracelet banning him from the Framlingham Forest, until then.
Mr Lethbridge said he understood it would be submitted there was insufficient evidence at the committal hearing and the accused, Mr Johnson, ought to have the murder allegation discharged.
He said it would be up to the court in the committal hearing to determine that issue.
The magistrate said it seemed Mr Johnson was entitled to make his submissions at the earliest possible date to see if the evidence was of sufficient weight.
When bailed until August 8, Mr Johnson said: "Thank-you your honour."
Lawyer Kerry Schroeder, for Mr Fenwick, said the prosecution had provided a USB containing a large amount of evidence in recent days, which she had not had an opportunity to fully examine.
She said a list of transcripts had not been provided and the prosecution foreshadowed that material would be subject to redactions.
Mr Fenwick has had his case adjourned until the next committal mention hearing date in Warrnambool on August 18.
Ms Schroeder said her client was arrested on November 22 last year and there was a large amount of material to work through.
A police spokeswoman last year said the matter was initially investigated by the local police as a missing persons case and inquiries made at the time suggested Mr Jarvis' disappearance was not suspicious.
"However in 2018 new information was received by the missing persons squad which led police to believe there had been other people involved in Christopher's disappearance, and he had likely met with foul play," she told The Standard.
Earlier this month, Mr Jarvis' family - who travelled to Melbourne for a court hearing - pleaded with the public to help locate their father's remains.
They recalled a childhood marred with searching clifftops at Thunder Point for a father they'd never find.
Son Cale Jarvis said the family remained steadfast in their pursuit to find their father.
"We just want the remains back to be able to put our dad to rest," he said.
"It's been 16 years we've been waiting and wondering. We still deal with it every day.
"We implore anyone out there who does know anything ... please, we just want to put our dad to rest."
