A Latah County judge granted the request of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, to move his murder trial to a different venue in 2025 in an attempt to quell a biased jury.
Latah County District Judge John Judge wrote in his decision filed Friday that his reasoning was based on public prejudice, convenience and the interest of justice.
Kohberger, a former Washington State University student, is charged with the killings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, who were stabbed to death in their off-campus Moscow home in November 2022. Kohberger was arrested a month later in Pennsylvania and, after being flown back to the Palouse, has been held at the Latah County Jail in Moscow. He is scheduled for a three-month trial starting in June. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Extensive media coverage and "prejudicial misinformation" like blogs and internet sleuths, who are trying to "capitalize on the tragedy," Judge wrote, have changed the trajectory of the case.
More than half of Latah County residents already believe Kohberger is guilty, based on an expert's survey provided to the defense, and media coverage often tends to spike before and after a court decision, he said. The small population of Latah County, nearly 41,000 people, and the large amount of news coverage about the case demonstrated a reasonable likelihood he would not receive a fair trial if it wasn't moved, Judge wrote.
The explosion of media coverage, documentaries and books already published about the case led Kohberger's attorneys to seek a change of venue, suggesting a place like Boise for the months-long trial.
Prosecutors previously suggested a next-door venue like Nez Perce County as a compromise so jurors could go home each night and to reduce all-around costs.
But Kohberger's attorney Elisa Massoth wrote in court documents that Latah County residents were over-exposed to coverage about the case and have a type of "mob mentality" about Kohberger.
Moving the trial nearly 300 miles south would be in Kohberger's best interest to receive a fair trial, his attorneys said.
"Potential jurors in Ada County, for example, did not experience the same level of fear caused by the homicides as Latah County residents," Judge wrote in his decision.
Judge also wrote in his decision Latah County does not have the resources to accommodate a capital murder trial with a high amount of interest — the sheriff's office and police are understaffed, there is only one court clerk "familiar" with the process and there is limited space within the courthouse.
"There are serious issues that cannot be resolved no matter how much planning and preparation is done," Judge wrote.
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