Idaho’s high court moves the trial for the killing of 4 university students to Boise

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — The trial of a man charged in the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students will be held in Boise, roughly 300 miles (483 kilometers) from where the crimes occurred, the Idaho Supreme Court announced Thursday.

The Idaho Supreme Court’s order appointing a new judge and transferring the trial set for June 2025 comes in response to a ruling from 2nd District Judge John Judge, who said extensive media coverage of the case, the spreading of misinformation on social media and statements by public officials made it doubtful that Bryan Kohberger could receive a fair trial in university town of Moscow, Idaho.

Kohberger faces four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, and prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted. The four University of Idaho students were killed some time in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, in a rental house near the campus.

The ruling means that all hearings and other proceedings in the case will now be held at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, before 4th District Judge Steven Hippler. The Boise building is much larger than the courthouse in Moscow, with bigger courtrooms, space for overflow seating and a larger security area for screening visitors. It also has protected routes for sensitive witnesses to enter and leave the courtroom — something that Judge had noted the Latah County courthouse lacked.

The judge also ordered Kohberger to be transferred to Ada County.

Kohberger’s defense team sought the change of venue, saying strong emotions in the close-knit community and constant news coverage would make it impossible to find an impartial jury in the small university town where the killings occurred.

But prosecutors opposed the switch, arguing that any problems with potential bias could be resolved by simply calling a larger pool of potential jurors and questioning them carefully. They noted the inconvenience of forcing attorneys, witnesses, family members of the victims and others to travel to a different city.

The right to a fair trial and impartial jurors is enshrined in the U.S. Constitution, and it is not uncommon for a trial to be moved to a new location in an effort to protect those rights.

Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University, opted to stand silent when asked to enter a plea in the case last year, and so a not-guilty plea was entered on his behalf by the judge.

Authorities have said that cellphone data and surveillance video shows that Kohberger visited the victims’ neighborhood at least a dozen times before the killings; that he traveled in the region that night, returning to Pullman, Washington, along a roundabout route; and that his DNA was found at the crime scene.

His lawyers said in a court filing he was merely out for a drive that night, “as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars.”

Police arrested Kohberger six weeks after the killings at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending winter break.

Rebecca Boone, The Associated Press