The fate of a man charged in the notorious 1983 "KFC murders" could be decided in Brazos County, officials confirmed this week.

A hearing is set for May 16 to decide on a change of venue in the jury trial of Darnell Hartsfield. A court coordinator in the office of Clay Gossett, the district judge who will preside over the case, said Thursday that Brazos County had been discussed as a possible site.

Hartsfield, 46, and his cousin Romeo Pinkerton, both of Tyler, were indicted in 2005 by a Rusk County grand jury on five counts of capital murder. They are charged with entering a KFC restaurant in Kilgore in 1983, abducting five people and taking them to a nearby field to execute them.

Pinkerton was scheduled for trial in a Bowie County courtroom in October but pleaded guilty to five lesser counts of first-degree murder and received five concurrent life sentences.

Hartsfield's trial date is tentatively set for Aug. 25.

Rusk County District Attorney Micheal Jimerson, whose office is prosecuting the case with assistance from the Texas Attorney General's Office, declined to comment Thursday, citing a gag order imposed by Judge Gossett.

Gossett's office recently contacted officials with Brazos County's 361st District Court about the possible change of venue, said Brazos County District Clerk Marc Hamlin. A meeting will be held to discuss how security and paperwork will be handled if the case is moved to Bryan, Hamlin said.

The district clerk said changes of venue often are requested in high-profile cases, and Brazos County is a logical place to hold the trial because of its experience with another widely publicized homicide case.

White supremacist Lawrence Russell Brewer was convicted in a Brazos County courtroom in 1999 for chaining a disabled black man to a truck and dragging him to death near Jasper.

"We've been receptive in the past in allowing our facilities to be used with the idea that it doesn't belong to us. It belongs to the citizens, and we want to make it available," Hamlin said. "We have such a diverse community with a jury pool that is probably one of the best in the state. There's a lot that goes into the planning process, and I can't give enough accolades to all the elected officials who are willing to step up and let it happen here."

Hamlin said that when the Jasper case was tried in Brazos County, it caused a media circus at the courthouse but didn't alter day-to-day operations.

"The courtroom [where the trial is held] is impacted the most," he said. "By no means do our other operations shut down. We still have trials that have to go to court."

Hartsfield already is serving a life sentence after being convicted in October 2005 of aggravated perjury in connection with the KFC case. He told a grand jury he had never been to the KFC restaurant in Kilgore where the abductions took place, but DNA evidence linked him to the crime, authorities said.

If he's convicted of capital murder in his upcoming trial, Hartsfield could be sentenced to death. His criminal record includes convictions for aggravated robbery, burglary, reckless endangerment, delivery of a controlled substance and engaging in organized criminal activity.

• April Avison's e-mail address is april.avison@theeagle.com.

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