Lawyers for the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students are asking a judge to move his murder trial out of the county, arguing that intense media coverage and public interest in the case make a fair trial impossible. The request marks the latest legal twist more than 20 months after the trial. quadruple murder case made international headlines.
“The prolific media coverage in Latah County is not just a passing story,” said Anne Taylor, public defender for Bryan Kohbergerthe prosecutor said in a change of venue motion made public Tuesday. “The content is not innocuous, but rather provocative, emotional and often misleading, false and poorly researched. There is no reason to believe that the media coverage will slow down, regardless of the time it takes to prepare the case for trial.”
To protect Kohberger’s constitutional right to a fair trial, the trial should be moved to Boise, she said.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said he opposed moving the trial. He argued that the case has received national and international attention and that moving it out of the county would not affect potential jurors’ familiarity with the case.
Both sides are expected to defend their positions at a hearing on August 29.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University near Pullman, Wash., is charged with fatally stab four students – Kaylee GoncalvesMadison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – at a rental home near the Moscow, Idaho campus in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.
Kaylee’s father, Steve Goncalves, said “48 hours” Last year, “there is evidence that she woke up and tried to get out of that situation,” claiming she was “trapped” because of the way the bed was set up.
Six weeks later, police arrested Kohberger at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending his winter vacation. Investigators said they linked Kohberger to the crime through DNA found on a knife sheath at the scene, surveillance video and cellphone data.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence. His lawyers said in court documents that he was driving alone the night of the killings, something he did often.
His trial is currently underway. planned for June 2025.
It will be up to Judge John C. Judge to decide whether the city remains in Moscow, with a population of 41,000, or moves 295 miles south to Boise, with a population of 236,634.
“Latah County, Idaho is a small, close-knit community. Based on survey results, it is a community where convictions and death sentences are detrimental,” Taylor wrote. “Some of the major employers in the community are individuals connected to law enforcement and the University of Idaho.”
Earlier this year, Taylor argued in court that Prosecutors withheld information from the defense team, saying Latah County prosecutors failed to provide a complete video that would show Kohberger’s vehicle near the residence where the four students were killed. Taylor said the defense has “only received portions” of the video, which is described in the affidavit of probable cause which was used to arrest Kohberger, and said the video had no sound.
Goncalves’ family said in the spring that they were frustrated by how long it took for the case to move through the court system.
“These jokes have been going on for 17 months. Once the hearing is over, there needs to be a hearing on the decision made at that hearing before the last hearing and there needs to be another hearing,” the family said in a statement. “This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings and delayed decisions.”
