Trial shift for Henley considered

HOUSTON (P)-Prosecution and defense lawyers agreed yesterday that mass murder defendant Elmer Wayne Henley cannot get a fair trial in Houston at this time. A hearing was set for today to see if his trial should be moved elsewhere.

District Court Judge William Hatten, who called the hearing, overruled a defense motion to throw out the case on grounds of massive and prejudicial publicity.

Henley, 17, is accused of murder in six of the 27 slayings of teen-aged boys police say were killed by a homosexual murder-torture ring discovered last August. He is to be tried for one death after the pretrial hearing.

Defense lawyer Will Gray had planned to call 60 witnesses mostly newsmen to support his contention that publicity made a sixmonth delay in the trial necessary.

Before the hearing started, Asst. Dist. Atty. Don Lambright agreed to stipulate that Henley could not get a fair trial in the Houston area at this time. He told Judge Hatten he should order a change of venue.