Date set for hearing on venue change

Wednesday, Feb. 17, 1999 | 12:02 p.m.

Kyle Ray and Colby Becker, both 15, each are charged with three counts of first-degree murder in the shooting death's of Ray's parents and his sister.

They allegedly plotted the killings then traded off pulling the trigger in the triple-homicide that stunned the small mining town in May.

"The media coverage of this event has been pervasive," Marc Picker, Ray's attorney, said in the request to move the trial from Lander County.

He submitted copies of 23 newspaper articles about the case published in Reno, Battle Mountain and Elko.

"It would be nearly impossible for a Lander County resident to enter (the jury pool) with an untainted perception of the case," Picker said.

Lyon County District Attorney Robert Estes has been appointed special prosecutor in the case.

The new Lander County District Attorney elected in November, Hy Forgeron, had been serving as co-defense for Becker.

The victims were Ray's parents, James, 42, and Kimberly, 37, and his sister, Jennifer, 12. Sheriff's deputies say Becker shot Mr. Ray with a Remington .22-caliber rifle and Kyle Ray shot his mother and his sister with the same weapon.

The boys will be tried as adults but are too young to be sentenced to death. If convicted, they face up to life in prison without parole.