PALESTINE, Tex. – State District Judge Deborah Oakes Evans amended her gag orders in the East Texas mass murders case Tuesday to restrict lawyers and law officers from talking to reporters but specifically not restraining news coverage.

The judge filed the amended order with the Anderson County District Court just before it closed at 5 p.m. She said it supersedes previous orders signed by her that muzzled the press as well as the officers of the court.

The latest order, which the judge said is the “controlling order,” allows the public and the press to attend live pretrial hearings and publish “any information they have already obtained or may obtain in the future.”

She said the restraint on lawyers and law officers is intended to balance the right of accused killer William Hudson, 33, to a fair trial with the news media’s right to report news of public interest in a criminal case.

She said she considered the “unusually emotional nature of the issues involved in this case” and the “extensive local and national media coverage” of the Nov. 14 massacre of six members of two families at an East Texas campsite outside Palestine.

“All attorneys, their staffs, and law enforcement officers involved in this case shall not discuss this case with the media,” the judge asserted.

The language is nearly identical to an order Judge Evans issued four days after she had also granted a motion by defense attorney Steven Evans (no relation) for a sweeping gag order on news coverage of the murders.

News media and lawyers were puzzled over the conflict between the defense motion she granted Nov. 20 and her subsequent narrower restriction, and questioned whether both were in force.

The Palestine Herald-Press, in an editorial Tuesday morning, urged the judge to clarify her position or step down from the case. The Dallas Morning News also took the judge to task for considering unconstitutional prior restraint of legitimate news coverage.

The murders occurred the night of Nov. 14 at a campsite next to defendant Hudson’s property in the unincorporated, tiny town of Tennessee Colony about 100 miles southeast of Dallas.

The victims included Carl Johnson, 77, of Hillsboro, Tex.; his daughter, Hannah Johnson, 40, of Midlothian, Tex.; her son Kade Johnson, 6; Thomas Kamp, 46, of Midlothian, and his sons from a previous marriage — Austin Kamp, 21, and Nathan Kamp, 24, both from California.

Cynthia Johnson, 63, wife of Carl Johnston, survived the carnage by hiding in the woods surrounding the campsite. She told authorities Hudson murdered the victims when he suddenly turned violent after they had been socializing and drinking with him.

Hannah Johnson and Thomas Kamp were engaged to be married, and the two families were enjoying a weekend of camping to celebrate the birthday of Kamp’s oldest son. Authorities have given no motive for the murders.

Residents of the rural region have expressed shock over the killings.  District Attorney Allyson Mitchell said there “are no adequate words to truly describe this horrific and senseless act.” She said it was the “single most horrific crime” in Anderson County’s modern history, and vowed to prosecute Hudson to the “fullest extent of the law.”

Hudson has been charged with six capital murders, meaning he would likely face the death penalty if convicted.

Details for this story were provided by the Palestine, Tex., Herald-Press.