Jason Autry is escorted into the courtroom for a hearing in the murder case of nursing student Holly Bobo, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, in Decaturville, Tenn. A judge says he is considering holding separate trials for Autry and brothers John Dylan and Zachary Adams, three men charged in the kidnapping, rape and killing of Bobo, whose disappearance more than five years ago led to a massive search for her.
Zachary Adams is escorted from of the Decatur County Courthouse after appearing at a hearing in the murder case of nursing student Holly Bobo, Tuesday, Nov. 15, 2016, in Decaturville, Tenn. A judge says he is considering holding separate trials for Jason Autry and brothers John Dylan and Zachary Adams, three men charged in the kidnapping, rape and killing of Bobo, whose disappearance more than five years ago led to a massive search for her.
Holly Bobo is seen in this undated photo provided by the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation.DECATURVILLE, Tenn. - A judge said Tuesday he is considering holding separate trials for each of three men charged in the kidnapping, rape and killing of a Tennessee woman whose disappearance more than five years ago led to a massive search for her.
Decatur County Judge C. Creed McGinley said he has not decided whether Jason Autry and brothers John Dylan and Zachary Adams will be tried together or separately for the 2011 death of Holly Bobo. McGinley has targeted April 3 for the first trial in the case.
The case has stirred emotions in Decatur County and surrounding counties in rural West Tennessee, potentially making it difficult to find jurors who have not heard about it.
"The venue will be changed," the judge said.
McGinley said the trial or trials could be held in Hardin County, south of Decatur County.
Bobo was 20 when she disappeared in April 2011. At the time, her brother told police he saw a man dressed in camouflage leading her into the woods near her home in Parsons, about 110 miles east of Memphis.
After Bobo's disappearance, investigators and volunteers scoured the town of about 2,400 people and the surrounding terrain where cow pastures, old barns, thick woods, flowery fields and dusty back roads comprise the landscape.
Residents adorned mailboxes, lamp posts and store fronts with pink bows, as a sign of hope and solidarity with the family. Pink became the color associated with Bobo because she was wearing a pink shirt and carrying a pink purse when she disappeared. Posters with Bobo's picture could be found throughout the South.
In September 2014 - more than three years after Bobo disappeared - authorities said two men searching for ginseng found Bobo's skull in a wooded area not far from her house.
Autry and the Adams brothers were charged with premeditated murder, as well as murder in perpetration of aggravated kidnapping and aggravated rape, after Bobo's remains were found. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if they are convicted at trial.
The Tennessee Bureau of Investigation has said the investigation into Bobo's disappearance is the most expensive in the agency's history. Few details have been released about why authorities and prosecutors have said the three men kidnapped and killed Bobo, however.
All three have pleaded not guilty.
Michael Scholl, Autry's lawyer, said there are about 190,000 documents and 4.5 terabytes of information that are being reviewed as possible evidence in the case.
Also Tuesday, McGinley said he will not allow anyone to wear T-shirts or ribbons expressing their support for Bobo's family and friends in the courtroom during trial.
"I will not tolerate signs, placards, and T-shirts ... that can influence prospective jurors," McGinley said.