Bryan Kohberger, the man accused in the murders of four University of Idaho students, was transported by plane Sunday morning from the Idaho county where he was being jailed to another county where his trial will be held.
Kohberger’s transfer from Latah County, where the killings took place in November 2022, to Ada County, more than 300 miles south and home to Idaho’s capital, Boise, comes after an order last week from the state Supreme Court to proceed with a change of venue.
The trial is tentatively set for next June in Boise.
Latah County District Judge John Judge had ruled in favor of lawyers for Kohberger, 29, who argued a trial in Latah County would be unfair because of the intense pretrial publicity creating a “mob mentality” against the defendant.
At a hearing on the issue, defense experts provided research showing that the most effective way to prevent jury bias is by changing the trial’s location.
Given Latah County’s smaller population of 41,000, of which just over half are eligible to serve on a jury, Judge wrote in his order “it is far more likely” that residents there would have connections to someone involved in the case, making it “more likely” that they would have discussed it — and thus it would be “more difficult to make the identities of jurors private.”
“While the issue of extensive, sensationalized coverage is not unique to Latah County,” Judge added, “it is potentially more impactful given the volume of coverage coupled with the smaller population.”
Ada County has a population of about half a million people.
The state Supreme Court said in a ruling last week that the case would be reassigned to a new district judge, Steven Hippler. Despite the change, Latah County prosecutors and Kohberger’s public defenders are expected to remain through the trial.
But the new judge will have to rule on another major decision in the coming months: Prosecutors plan to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. Kohberger’s defense wants to avoid that, arguing in a filing that capital punishment would violate the U.S. Constitution. A hearing on the matter is scheduled for Nov. 7.
Kohberger was arrested more than a month after the four students — housemates Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20 — were fatally stabbed at an apartment house on the edge of the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger was a resident of nearby Pullman, Washington, and then a doctoral student at Washington State University.
A not guilty plea on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary was entered on his behalf in May 2023. Authorities have not publicly confirmed a motive; a gag order was issued in the case, preventing many involved from speaking.
The prosecution has said it expects to present DNA evidence, details about cellphone use and security videos to connect Kohberger to the crime.
Kohberger’s defense has suggested that he often went on late-night drives and that cellphone tower data would show that he had been doing so miles away when the four students were killed.
Some of the victims’ families have expressed frustration over the trial’s delay and had pressed for the case to remain in Latah County so that its residents could represent the jury.
The Goncalves family expressed optimism that the trial is still moving forward, and wrote Thursday on their Facebook page: “Ada County, we will be seeing you soon.”
