Sac County murder trial moved to Boone County

SAC CITY, Iowa | A Sac County murder trial moved to another county once because of media publicity has been moved a second time for the same reason.

District Judge Gary McMinimee on Thursday moved John Green's trial to Boone County in central Iowa. The trial remains set for March 30.

Green's trial initially was moved from Sac County to Webster County, where his first trial in December ended in a mistrial.

Green, 55, is charged in Sac County District Court with first-degree murder for the 2009 death of his former roommate, Mark Koster.

Green's trial was originally moved to Webster County after his attorney, public defender Charles Kenville, had argued that because of pretrial publicity and news coverage of Green's arrest, finding an impartial jury in Sac County would be hard.

Kenville made a similar argument in his Dec. 31 request for a change of venue from Webster County. He said that news coverage of the trial and order for a mistrial would make it unlikely that an impartial jury could be found there a second time. McMinimee ordered a mistrial after Kenville objected to the testimony of Sac City Police Chief John Thompson's use of the term "bad people," a phrase Kenville said mischaracterized Green.

Sac County Attorney Ben Smith consented to the recent change of venue.

Green is accused of choking Koster to death in Koster's home. Koster's body was found hidden in the basement in 2012, when the new homeowner was remodeling the basement.

Green was arrested in March in Florida.

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Sac County murder trial moved to Boone County