MASON CITY — The trial of the Lake Mills man accused of killing two people in Mason City has been moved to Fort Dodge.

Peter Veal had requested a change of venue because of pretrial publicity in Cerro Gordo County. Court records say a judge granted the request Thursday and set a trial starting date of July 10 in Webster County District Court.

Veal has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of the attempted murder of a witness. Officers sent to a home in November to check reports of a shooting found the bodies of Caleb Christensen and Melinda Kavars.

Autopsies showed Christensen died from several “sharp-force” injuries and Kavars died from a gunshot wound to her neck and chest.