Mr McNeill has elected to have a jury hear the trial, which is scheduled to begin on the island on February 1.
Proceedings are expected to run for four weeks before the Chief Justice of the Norfolk Island Supreme Court Mark Weinberg.
Ms Patton, 29, disappeared while walking along an island road on March 31, 2002. Her battered body was found at a picnic spot several hours later, sparking the first murder investigation on the tiny Pacific territory in more than a century.
Mr McNeill, who had worked as a chef on Norfolk Island in 2002, was arrested at his New Zealand home in February.
Last month the 28-year-old was ordered to stand trial, charged with Ms Patton's murder.
Mr McNeill, a father of two, is in custody in Sydney's Silverwater Jail.
Under Norfolk Island law, 12 jurors must be picked from the electoral roll, which contained around 1,300 names at the 2004 election.