MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — Lawyers for the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students are urging a judge to move his murder trial out of the county, arguing that intense media coverage and public interest in the case make it impossible for him to get a fair trial.
“The prolific media coverage in Latah County is not a passing story,” said Anne Taylor, Bryan Kohberger’s public defender, in a change of venue motion released Tuesday. “The content is not benign, but rather provocative, emotional, and often misleading, false and poorly researched. There is no reason to believe that the media coverage will slow down, no matter how long it takes to prepare the case for trial.”
To protect Kohberger’s constitutional right to a fair trial, the trial should be moved to Boise, she said.
Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson said he opposes the transfer of the trial. He argued that the case had received national and international attention and that moving it out of the county would not affect potential jurors’ familiarity with the case.
Both sides are expected to defend their positions at a hearing on August 29.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University near Pullman, Washington, is accused with four fatally stabbed dead students — Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin — at a rental home near the Moscow, Idaho, campus in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.
Police arrested Kohberger six weeks later at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending his winter vacation. Investigators said they linked Kohberger to the crime through DNA found on a knife sheath at the scene and surveillance cameras. videos and mobile phone data.
Kohberger has maintained his innocence. His lawyers said in court documents that he was driving alone the night of the killings, something he did often.
Her the trial is provisionally sent for June 2025.
It will be up to Judge John C. Judge to decide whether the city will remain in Moscow, with a population of 41,000, or move 296 miles 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 community where convictions and death sentences are common,” Taylor wrote. “Some of the major employers in the community are individuals connected to law enforcement and the University of Idaho.”
