Judge orders change of venue in trial of man charged with killing 4 University of Idaho students

BOISE, Idaho — A judge has decided to move the trial of the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to another city.

In an order Friday, Idaho 2nd District Judge John C. Judge said he was concerned about defendant Bryan Kohberger’s ability to receive a fair trial in the Latah County courthouse in Moscow, given extensive media coverage of the case and statements by government officials suggesting Kohberger was guilty.

He also noted that the courthouse is not large enough to handle the case and that the county sheriff’s office does not have enough officers to provide security. He did not specify where the trial would be moved.

“It is undisputed that there has been significant media coverage of this case throughout the state and nationally,” Judge wrote. “While some of the coverage has been neutral reporting on the trial, much of the coverage has been sensational and damaging to Kohberger.”

Kohberger’s The defense team sought the change of auction, saying that strong emotions in the close-knit community and constant news coverage would make it impossible to find an impartial jury in the small college town where the killings took place. Prosecutors argued that any problems with potential bias could be resolved by simply calling a larger group of potential jurors and questioning them carefully.

Kohberger, a former criminal law student at Washington State University, which is across the state line in Pullman, faces four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.

The four University of Idaho students were murdered in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, in a rental house near campus.

Six weeks later, police arrested Kohberger at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending the Christmas holidays.

The killings stunned students at both universities and left the small city of Moscow deeply shaken. The case also led to a flood of news coverage, much of which Kohberger’s defense team says was inflammatory and left the community deeply biased against their client.

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Johnson reported from Seattle.