The judge in the Idaho murder trial of Bryan Kohberger has agreed to move the proceedings, dealing another blow to the victims’ families.
Kohberger had requested a change of venue, citing the impossibility of an impartial jury in the county where the murders occurred.
His lawyers said he would be “lynched” if he was acquitted in Latah County.
Judge John C. Judge has granted her request and it will now be up to the state Supreme Court to determine where the trial, scheduled for June 2025, will be held.
The decision also means that a new judge will be assigned to the case.
It is the latest setback in the lengthy proceedings that have dragged on since the November 2022 killings.
The judge in the trial for the Bryan Kohberger murders in Idaho has agreed to move the proceedings, dealing another blow to the victims’ families.
Idaho police said the four University of Idaho students were killed while they slept between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. (Pictured: Victims Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Maddie Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20)
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University, which is located 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 Gonçalves family had expressed their wish for the trial to be held in Moscow.
Reacting to Monday’s decision, they said: Brian Entin of NewsNation They are “incredibly disappointed” by the change of venue and criticized Judge in their statement.
“The only good thing about this decision is that it will be the last one Judge Judge makes in this case. The family has always believed that Judge Judge favors the defense and it was a common theme that the defense got what they wanted or needed,” the family said.
In his decision, dated Friday, Judge said: “The Latah County Courthouse itself raises important issues for a trial of this length and magnitude.”
He also cited “the extensive negative publicity surrounding Kohberger.”
His defense team requested a change of venue, saying the high emotions in the close-knit community and constant news coverage will make it impossible to find an impartial jury in the small college town where the killings occurred.
Prosecutors argued that any potential bias issues could be resolved by simply calling up a larger pool of potential jurors and questioning them carefully.
Judge John C. Judge granted Kohberger’s request and it will now be up to the state Supreme Court to determine where the trial, scheduled for June 2025, will take place.
“The traumatized city of Moscow is understandably filled with deep-seated prejudices about guilt,” Kohberger’s defense said in a filing, arguing that if he is released residents would “burn down the courthouse; outrage would be a mild description.”
To bolster its arguments for a change of venue, the defense said it conducted a telephone survey of residents that found more than 98 percent were aware of the case and 67 percent believed Kohberger was guilty.
They said Latah County residents told investigators that if Kohberger was not convicted, “they would probably find him and kill him.”
“There would probably be a riot and he wouldn’t be out for long because someone would bring justice to him,” another anonymous resident said, according to the defense.
In a legal filing, the defense claimed that “prospective jurors who have been exposed to prejudicial pretrial publicity enter the courtroom with case-specific knowledge gleaned from the media, social media, and discussions with friends, family, and coworkers.”
Kohberger was arrested in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, a small town in the heart of the Poconos Mountains, more than 2,000 miles from where the gruesome murders occurred.
“Uncovering the full extent of jurors’ specific knowledge and opinions in high-profile cases can be extremely difficult,” they said.
However, prosecutors responded that “the change of venue is not going to solve any of these problems.”
“The state’s position on venue is that the case should be tried here. It’s a Latah County case. We believe we can select an appropriate jury panel from Latah County,” Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said at an earlier hearing.
Hearings over the trial location have caused delays and angered victims’ families, who have accused Kohberger and his lawyers of repeatedly using delaying tactics to try to postpone the trial.
The trial is currently scheduled for June 2025, but could be delayed again depending on upcoming rulings requested by Kohberger’s lawyers.
Kohberger’s team brought in media monitoring expert Todd Murphy, who testified about the level of media exposure Latah County has received for the infamous murders.
He said Latah County has received more exposure to the murders than Ada County, where the trial could have been moved.
Murphy added that while national stories may continue to generate interest during the trial, pretrial hearings like this one often see a significant increase in interest in local news.
Boyfriend and girlfriend Ethan Chapin (left) and Xana Kernodle (right) were killed together in bed in the horrific November 2022 murders.
Families of the victims have shared their frustration at the endless delays. Kaylee Goncalves’ mother (left, with Madison Mogen) said: “It’s heartbreaking to see how slow everything has to go. Why does it have to take so long?”
Prosecutors argued that any bias among the jury pool could be mitigated by screening and expanding the pool of potential jurors.
Latah County prosecutors say they intend to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted of all four murders.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022, more than a month after the murders that shocked the nation, and his lawyers insist they “absolutely believe” he did not commit the crimes.
The month-long hunt for the suspected killer attracted widespread media attention, and the victims’ families used the attention to condemn the proceedings against Kohberger.
In December 2023, the victim’s mother, Kaylee Goncalves, said the current process has been “heartbreaking.”
“It’s heartbreaking to see how slow everything has to be. Why does it have to take so long?” Kaylee’s mother, Krisi, said in an interview with KHQ.
“It’s important, I understand that, but there are facts, we have certain facts, we have certain knowledge. I can’t believe that this works like this.”
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