Potential Bryan Kohberger jurors issue terrifying warning ahead of bombshell court case over brutal murder of four students

Potential jurors in Bryan Kohberger’s quadruple murder trial have issued a chilling warning as they prepare for next year’s shocking trial in the killings of four University of Idaho students.

The dire warning came in a document from attorneys representing the 29-year-old criminology student, who cited residents of Latah County, Idaho, who predicted riots would break out in the streets if Kohberger were acquitted.

“They would burn the courthouse down. Outrage would be a mild description,” one resident reportedly told a defense expert in a telephone survey of hundreds of potential jurors, according to documents obtained by Court TV.

“There would probably be a riot and he wouldn’t last long because someone else would do the good old boy justice,” said another.

Kohberger will stand trial for the murders of students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, in their off-campus home.

Defense attorneys now argue that these responses prove the trial should be moved from Moscow to the capital, Boise.

His lawyers argue that potential jurors in Ada County, where Boise is located, gave much more measured answers when asked what would happen if Kohberger were not convicted, saying, among other things, “They would go on with their lives as usual” and “I don’t know if they would have very strong feelings about it.”

According to the defense, the difference in reactions from residents of the two districts indicates that people who were more exposed to media coverage of the quadruple murder are more likely to prematurely judge Kohberger as guilty.

“The traumatized city of Moscow is understandably filled with deep-seated, preconceived notions of guilt,” the lawyers wrote in the filing, according to the Idaho Statesman.

“The mafia mentality in Latah County will never be a [jury pool] resulting in a cross-section of the community.’

Kohberger is accused of killing University of Idaho students (L-R) Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle on November 13, 2022

They noted that the case received the most media coverage in the region and said much of that reporting was “inaccurate and inflammatory.”

“The media coverage of Latah County fails to tell citizens that at this time there is no evidence, that there are no facts known at this time, and that Bryan Kohberger is innocent,” the filing states.

‘The publicity surrounding Mr Kohberger has been going on since December 30, 2022. It is going in fits and starts, but it is not decreasing.’

The defense also rejected other solutions to ensure an impartial jury during the trial.

They argued that the state’s proposal to move the jury to neighboring Nez Pearce County would not help, saying the entire North Idaho region has been tainted by the media attention to the case.

They also rejected a proposed solution to screen jurors, citing precedent that shows screening alone is not enough to ensure impartiality, and said that locking up a jury would be “unnecessary and untenable.” according to NBC News.

The students were found dead that day in their off-campus home, which has since been demolished.

The scenes inside the house were so gruesome that blood was seen dripping down the outside of the property’s wall, in what detectives described as the worst crime scene they’d ever seen.

But Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson has argued that the defense failed to prove that a change of venue is “necessary and convenient” under Idaho law.

He says the killings were so high-profile and the media coverage so “pervasive and broad” that moving the trial would likely not produce jurors unfamiliar with the case.

Prosecutors also argued last week that a judge should consider the “interests of justice” for the families of the four students, who live nearby.
The family of victim Kaylee Goncalves has indicated through her lawyer that they want the trial to remain in Moscow, where Kohberger has been held since January 2023.

“We hope that the trial in Latah County will proceed so that the schedule is not disrupted. We pray that there will be no delays,” the statement said.

Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022

Cell phone records produced by prosecutors show that the route Bryan Kohberger allegedly drove on the night of the brutal murders in Idaho could be a crucial piece of evidence in the state’s case against the 28-year-old. In his alibi application, his lawyers say they plan to contest the data

Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022, more than a month after the bloody killings that shocked the country.

Prosecutors say his DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath found in the victim’s off-campus home, but no murder weapon was ever found.

They have also argued that cellphone data and surveillance footage point to Kohberger’s car being at the crime scene, though the defense has disputed those claims.

The defense, on the other hand, has argued that Kohberger was miles away from the off-campus home where the students were murdered. In a May 2024 official alibi, they claimed that Kohberger was “driving alone” “to look at the moon and stars” on the night of the murders.

The trial is now scheduled for June 2025, and a hearing will be held on Thursday on whether the trial should be moved.