(NEW YORK) — The venue will be changed in the University of Idaho quadruple murder trial, Judge John Judge has ruled.
The judge said, “Considering the undisputed evidence presented by the defense, the extreme nature of the news coverage in this case, and the smaller population in Latah County, the defense has met the rather low standard of demonstrating ‘a reasonable likelihood’ that prejudicial news coverage will compromise a fair trial in Latah County. Thus, the Court will grant Kohberger’s motion to change venue for presumed prejudice.”
The new location was not immediately clear. The decision will be left up to Idaho’s highest court.
Lawyers for the suspect, Bryan Kohberger, pushed to move the trial to Boise, arguing the local jury pool in Latah County, which encompasses Moscow, was tainted by pretrial publicity.
Defense lawyers surveyed Latah County residents and said their results found that the “pressure to convict” Kohberger was shown to be “so severe” that the venue couldn’t be impartial.
The defense said one respondent answered they would “burn the courthouse down” if he were not convicted. The same survey, according to the defense, found “much less emotional” responses from people living closer to Boise, which is about 300 miles south of Moscow.
The prosecution has said the case has national and international interest, and that the case has been covered plenty in Boise, so a change of venue would not solve any problem.
The relatives of victim Kaylee Goncalves said they’re “incredibly disappointed” that the venue will be changed.
“As victims’s families you are left to just watch like everyone else and really you have little rights or say in the process and at the same time you are the most vested in the outcome,” the family said in a statement on Monday. “We have always felt that a fair and impartial jury could be found in Latah County and still believe that is where the trial deserves to be held to help the community heal.”
Moscow Mayor Art Bettge said in a statement in August that, if the case stayed in Latah County, “I firmly believe people would be able to set aside any personal feelings they have … set aside any information they may have read or heard … and make a determination of guilt or not guilty based on the evidence presented in the courtroom and deliberate according to the instructions provided to them.”
The trial is set to begin on June 2, 2025, and run until Aug. 29, 2025. The judge said in June that if the venue changed, the trial date would still hold.
Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in an off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger was a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time.
Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.
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