By AP/KWMU
Union, Mo. – A Franklin County Circuit Court judge will allow jurors to be selected from outside of the county for the trial of accused kidnapper Michael Devlin.
Judge Stanley Williams ruled on the matter Thursday after Devlin's attorneys argued their client cannot get a fair trial in the rural eastern Missouri county. They say media coverage of the case has swayed potential jurors.
Williams ruled that the jury will be selected in another county, but will be brought to Franklin County for the trial.
Devlin is accused of kidnapping 13-year-old Ben Ownby in January in the town of Beaufort. Authorities found the boy in Devlin's apartment in the St. Louis suburb of Kirkwood, with 15-year-old Shawn Hornbeck, who was missing for four years.