MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Attorneys for the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students are urging a judge to move his murder trial elsewhere, arguing that intense media attention and public interest in the case are making it impossible for him to get a fair trial.
“The abundant media coverage in Latah County is not a passing fad,” Anne Taylor, a public defender for Bryan Kohberger, said in a motion to change venue made public Tuesday. “The content is not innocent, but rather inflammatory, emotion-inducing, and often misleading, false, and poorly substantiated. There is no reasonable belief that the media coverage will abate no matter how long it takes to prepare the case for trial.”
To protect Kohberger's constitutional right to a fair trial, the case should be moved to Boise, she said.
Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson has said he opposes moving the trial. He has argued that the case has received national and international attention, so moving the trial outside the county would not affect potential jurors' familiarity with the case.
The two sides will explain their positions during a hearing on August 29.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington, is accused of fatally stabbing four students — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — at a rental house near campus in Moscow, Idaho, sometime in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
Police arrested Kohberger six weeks later at his parents' home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending the winter holidays. Detectives said they linked Kohberger to the crime using DNA found on a knife sheath at the crime scene, surveillance footage and cellphone records.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence. His defense attorneys said in court documents that he was driving alone the night of the killings, something he often did.
His trial is tentatively scheduled for June 2025.
Judge John C. Judge will have to decide whether the city remains in Moscow, with a population of 41,000, or moves 292 miles (476 kilometers) south to Boise, with a population of 236,634.
“Latah County, Idaho is a small, close-knit community; based on survey results, it is a biased community for conviction and the death penalty,” Taylor wrote. “Some of the largest employers in the community are people associated with law enforcement and the University of Idaho.”
