A judge in Idaho has ordered a new venue for the trial of a man charged with murdering four university students in a high-profile case two years ago, saying he believed the accused could not receive a fair trial in his courthouse.
Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger had argued their client would be subjected to “mob mentality”, and cited alleged threats from local residents including that “they’d burn the courthouse down” if he was acquitted.
The district court judge John C Judge granted their motion to move the trial, saying that statements by local officials suggesting that Kohberger was guilty of the November 2022 stabbings of the four at a rented house in Moscow, Idaho, could also be prejudicial.
Additionally, he cited a survey of Latah county residents that said 67% of respondents believed he was guilty and 51% saying it would be hard for the defendant to convince them of his innocence.
“It is undisputed that there has been significant media coverage in this case throughout the state and nationally,” Judge wrote in a 20-page order dated Friday, and released on Monday.
“While some of the coverage has been neutral reporting of the court proceedings, much of the coverage has been sensationalized and prejudicial to Kohberger.”
The Latah county courthouse, Judge added, was not big enough to accommodate a case of such magnitude, and the county sheriff’s office did not have enough deputies to ensure its security.
He did not specify where the trial, scheduled to begin in June 2025, would instead take place.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania six weeks after the deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20; Xana Kernodle, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Madison Mogen, 21; all four students at the University of Idaho.
The suspect is a former criminal justice student at Washington State University and faces life in prison if convicted.
Kohberger’s defense team argued at a hearing last month that much of the media coverage of the case was “inflammatory” and left the community strongly biased against their client. They suggested that Judge move the trial to the Idaho state capital of Boise, about 300 miles away in Ada county.
Prosecutors countered that any perceived bias could easily be overcome by expanding the jury pool.
“This is probably, professionally, the most difficult decision I ever had to make,” Judge said during the hearing, according to NBC’s Today.
Kohberger’s lawyers said in court documents that “a mob mentality” had formed against their client in Latah county, and specifically in Moscow, a quiet university town where the victims were killed sometime in the early morning hours of 13 November 2022.
Authorities said cellphone data or surveillance video showed that Kohberger visited the neighborhood at least a dozen times before the killings and that he traveled in the region that night.
His DNA was found at the crime scene, prosecutors said.
Kohberger’s lawyers said in court filings he was merely out for a drive that night, “as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars”.
The Associated Press contributed to this report