Bryan Kohberger murder trial moves venues, is assigned new judge

The murder trial of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022, will be moved out of Latah County to Ada County, more than 300 miles to the south, a judge ruled on Thursday.

Judge G. Richard Bevan, chief justice of Idaho's State Supreme Court, ordered that the trial venue be moved to Ada County's Fourth Judicial District and assigned District Judge Steven Hippler to oversee the case.

Kohberger was also to be transferred to the custody of the Ada County sheriff, the order said.

Ada is the state's most populous county and the location of the capital, Boise.

The slayings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in November 2022 stunned the Moscow, Idaho, community, and led to a six-week manhunt for the killer.

Kohberger was arrested in December 2022. A judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf in 2023.

His trial is scheduled to begin in June 2025. Here’s the latest:

Judge grants change of venue

In his ruling, Judge agreed with the defense's argument that research showed the best way to avoid a biased jury was to change venues.

Judge wrote that Latah County's small population of 41,000 makes it “far more likely” that residents would have connections to someone on the case, or that they would have discussed it.

“While the issue of extensive, sensationalized coverage is not unique to Latah County,” Judge wrote, “it is potentially more impactful given the volume of coverage coupled with the smaller population.”

Judge also wrote of other potential concerns about holding the trial in Latah County, like keeping the identities of the jurors private, the sheriff's office's capacity for handling security, the small number of court clerks, and insufficient space in the county courthouse.

Judge wrote: “(The) interest of justice requires that the trial be moved to a venue with the resources, both in terms of personnel and space, necessary to effectively and efficiently handle a trial of this magnitude and length so that the parties and the Court can focus on the case and not on peripheral issues.”

Judge calls the venue issue 'the most difficult decision'

Judge heard arguments from the defense and prosecution on Aug. 29 on whether to move Kohberger's trial, or if it should proceed in the county where the killings took place.

“This is probably, professionally, the most difficult decision I ever had to make,” Judge said during the hearing.

Judge said he would review the law and the arguments before him before deciding on the change of venue.

Attorneys for Kohberger pushed for his trial to be moved to Ada County, calling several witnesses to the stand who testified that news stories about the case have oversaturated the community.

“Mr. Kohberger has the constitutional right to fair trial by an impartial jury,” Anne Taylor, an attorney for Kohberger, said at the hearing. “And to guarantee that this court must change venue.”

Prosecutors argued that they could find and seat an impartial jury in Latah County, and added the trial staying in the community would be more convenient for the families of the victims.

Steve Goncalves, father of victim Kaylee Goncalves, called the venue change request "irrelevant" in an interview on Thursday.

“I trust this community to be fair and to go in there without their minds made up,” he said.

'They'd burn the courthouse down': Kohberger's defense argues a 'mob mentality' has formed against him

In a new court filing made public Tuesday, Aug. 20, defense lawyers pointed to incendiary remarks from residents they surveyed in Latah County who suggested that there would be violent repercussions if Kohberger was not found guilty, arguing that there is a “mob mentality” against him in Latah County.

Kohberger’s legal team made one last push to get the trial moved to Boise, citing inflammatory quotes from residents about what would happen if he was not found guilty taken from a survey conducted by a defense expert, according to the filing.

One resident said, "There would likely be a riot and he wouldn't last long, because someone would do the good ole' boy justice," according to filing.

Another allegedly said "they'd burn the courthouse down" if Kohberger was set free.

The defense team is pushing to have the trial moved to Boise, which is 300 miles south of Moscow. But prosecutors have pushed to keep the case where it is.

On TODAY on Aug. 21, NBC senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett said she believed Kohberger's team had a good chance at getting the trial moved.

"Just given how small the town is ... the county is, compared to Boise, I think that could make a big difference," Jarrett said.

Kohberger's defense officially asks for the trial to be moved

The defense cited a survey they conducted that found 70 percent of locals have already formed a guilty opinion of Kohberger. They argued the trial should be moved to Boise in Idaho's largest county.

Elisa Massoth, an attorney for Kohberger, previously said in court on April 10 that denying a change of venue would mean "Mr. Kohberger's constitutional right to a fair trial is denied."

Prosecutors have been pushing back on moving the trial since January, saying media coverage of the case is widespread way beyond Latah County.

"It’s not Moscow. It’s not Latah County. It’s everywhere," prosecutor Bill Thompson said in court on Jan. 26. "So I don’t think that a change of venue is going to solve any of these problems."

If the trial is moved, it could affect the planned start date of June 2025.

NBC News senior legal correspondent Laura Jarrett said on TODAY on July 24 that the likelihood of the case being moved to a different venue is "pretty high."

"I've talked to prosecutors down there and they've said, 'Look, the issue is that the (Latah County) community is so tight that the jury pool is going to know somebody who knows somebody," Jarrett said.

"We're talking about the difference between over 500,000 residents in Boise versus 40,000 people in the community that we're facing here."

Judge sets Bryan Kohberger's trial for June 2025

A judge laid out a plan on June 27 for Kohberger to stand trial starting in June 2025.

The Latah County Court confirmed to NBC News the trial was scheduled to start on June 2, 2025.

During a hearing on June 27, Latah County District Judge John C. Judge said he expected the trial to take around three months, including sentencing if Kohberger was convicted.

Judge asked the prosecution and defense to try to meet several upcoming deadlines, saying “I just don’t want to be scrambling a month before the trial.”

Taylor said in court she was also “working toward” a June 2025 trial and said it was “reasonable.”

In a statement to NBC News after the trial date was set, the family of Kaylee Gonclaves said “it was a good day today.”

“We were able to get a trial date set and things appear to be moving forward. We are hopeful the trial stays in Latah County so as not to disrupt the scheduling order and we are praying for no more delays,” the statement read. “We moved a little closer to justice today for Kaylee, Maddie, Xana and Ethan.”

More than six weeks after the slayings, police arrested Kohberger, then 28, in Pennsylvania. Kohberger was charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary, and a judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf to the charges in May 2023.

The case had been stalled for months in pre-trial motions regarding the location of the trial and what evidence could be included, leading to frustration from the victims' families.

“We just want to know about the evidence,” Steve Goncalves said on TODAY in February. “There’s just a lot of unknowns. How long do you have to wait before you can find out about your own child’s life and what happened, who did this, and how do you hold them accountable?”

Defense attorneys argue prosecutors are withholding key evidence

Attorneys for Kohberger argued in front of Judge on May 2 that prosecutors were withholding key evidence.

Kohberger’s legal team alleged prosecutors weren’t handing over key pieces of evidence in discovery, including parts of a video that allegedly shows a vehicle matching Kohberger’s car at the scene of the murders.

“The court should ask itself what is the state trying to hide here?” Taylor asked.

In court, prosecutors denied they were keeping the materials from the defense.

“The characterization that we are just consciously withholding information to frustrate the defense is utter nonsense... I can tell you many of the things that the defense — the defendant has tried to itemize when we talk to our people who say that doesn’t exist,” prosecutor Bill Thompson said.

Kohberger’s attorneys asked for an upcoming hearing to discuss the surveillance video and other discovery materials to be open to the public, though Judge ruled with the prosecution to keep the May 14 hearing private.

The Goncalves family expressed frustration at the months of delays in the case.

“This banter has been going on for 17 months. Then once you get a hearing, you have a hearing about the decision that was made at that hearing before the last hearing and there needs to be another hearing,” the Goncalves family said in a statement on May 2. “This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions. Not every motion needs a hearing.”

Judge rules juror survey can continue

Judge ruled in April that the defense could continue surveying potential jurors in Latah County, Idaho, as part of an effort to change the venue of the trial.

He initially ordered for the defense to stop contacting local residents about the trial, but reversed course on April 22, ruling that Kohberger’s attorneys “may continue its surveys without modification to the survey questions,” according to court documents obtained by NBC News.

At hearings earlier in April, prosecutors objected against the survey, which included questions about the trial.

They argued some of the questions violated the judge’s gag order in the case, and accused a defense expert of intentionally tainting potential jurors.

NBC News analyst Danny Cevallos said on April 23 a change of venue is difficult to obtain.

“But if this survey really tends to show that Latah County potential jurors are just so completely biased against the defendant, then they may have a chance of moving it,” Cevallos said on TODAY.

Goncalves' family expressed their frustration with the way the case was being handled in an April 23 statement to NBC News.

“The survey is a ruse being used by the defense in an attempt to keep the trial out of Latah County,” the Goncalves family said. “We pray the trial stays with the citizens of Latah County and justice is served.”

Kohberger’s defense says he has a ‘habit of going for drives alone’

Attorneys for Kohberger submitted an alibi to the court on April 17 saying he was “out driving alone” on the night of the slayings, according to court documents.

According to Idaho state law, defendants using an alibi must give the state notice of the details of the alibi, and a judge set an April 17 deadline for Kohberger’s attorneys.

“Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and the stars,” Kohberger’s attorneys wrote in the filing obtained by NBC News.

Kohberger’s attorneys wrote in the filing they will offer expert testimony to cast doubt on prosecutors’ evidence placing Kohberger near the scene of the crime, including cell phone data. No witnesses were listed in the filing.

Judge previously appeared skeptical of Kohberger’s alibi when his defense attorney first raised it last year.

“The so-called alibi, not really an alibi,” Judge said during a hearing in August 2023. “You’re suggesting there might be some witnesses ... then, cough them up.”

In court documents filed Aug. 2, 2023, Kohberger’s Idaho defense attorneys gave an outline of his defense and alibi.

“Mr. Kohberger has long had a habit of going for drives alone,” his attorney Anne Taylor wrote in the filing. “Often he would go for drives at night. He did so late on November 12 and into November 13, 2022.”

Corroborating evidence that Kohberger was not at the scene of the crime will come from cross-examination of the state’s witnesses and presentation of defense experts at the trial, his attorney said.

“Mr. Kohberger is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time; at this time there is not a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was at each moment of the hours between late night November 12, 2022, and early morning November 13, 2022. He was out, driving during the late night and early morning hours of November 12-13, 2022,” Taylor wrote.

Taylor added: “At this time, Mr. Kohberger cannot be more specific about the possible witnesses and exactly what they will say.”

When is Bryan Kohberger’s trial?

The trial is now scheduled to start June 2, 2025. Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial in August 2023, delaying the trial that was originally scheduled for Oct. 2, 2023.

Pretrial hearings scheduled for Sept. 22, 2023, were also postponed until Oct. 26 because of an unspecified illness, further delaying proceedings.

The state of Idaho also asked the court to prohibit cameras in the courtroom ahead of the trial, which was opposed by a coalition of journalists, including NBC News. A judge declined the state’s request on Oct. 26, 2023.

Another outstanding issue was the investigators’ use of investigative genetic genealogy (or IGG) to track down Kohberger ahead of his arrest. IGG is a newer practice that includes the use of genetic information from DNA databases available to the public, such as Family Tree DNA and 23andMe.

The prosecution has argued that they’re not using the IGG portion of their investigation as part of their current case against Kohberger. On the other hand, the defense has argued that anything in this case is relevant.

In January 2024, the mother of Kaylee Goncalves spoke to NBC News correspondent Liz Kreutz on TODAY about the anxiety surrounding the long wait for a trial date to be set.

“We know if they don’t push for this summer, we’re looking at a year, over a year, and that’s mind-boggling,” Kristi Goncalves said. “It’s sickening.”

Who is Bryan Kohberger?

Kohberger is suspected in the deaths of Chapin, 20, Mogen, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Goncalves, 21 — four University of Idaho students who were killed in a home near campus on Nov. 13, 2022.

Police and the local Latah County coroner believe the students were killed inside the house as they slept, though some had defensive wounds. The three women were roommates in the house, while Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend who was spending the night, authorities said.

Two other roommates who were unharmed later discovered the bodies and called 911 the next morning, police added.

Following Kohberger's arrest at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, he was extradited to Idaho to face charges of four counts of first-degree murder and one felony burglary charge, authorities said.

At a hearing in May, Kohberger stood silent in court and a judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf on all of the charges.

Kohberger was a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, just across the state line in Pullman, Washington, in the criminal justice department, university officials confirmed in a statement Dec. 30, 2022.

They added that WSU Police Department had helped Idaho law enforcement officials search both Kohberger’s apartment and office on the WSU campus on the morning of Dec. 30, 2022.

At a Dec. 30, 2022, press conference, police confirmed that Kohberger maintained an apartment residence in Pullman as a student but is originally from Pennsylvania.

Kohberger did his undergraduate and master’s degree at Desales University, a private catholic university in Lehigh County, Pennsylvania. He got his bachelor’s degree in 2020 and finished his graduate studies in June 2022, the school confirmed in a statement. He got his master’s degree in criminal justice, according to the school’s commencement announcement at the time.

After news of Kohberger’s arrest, internet searchers found a Reddit post where Kohberger apparently had asked volunteers for a graduate research project to “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making while committing a crime.”

DeSales University confirmed the email address listed on the post had belonged to Kohberger when he was a student there.

Knife sheath, cell phone records and a white Hyundai Elantra

A probable cause affidavit, which detailed the evidence used to charge and arrest Kohberger, was unsealed on Jan. 5. In the affidavit, authorities laid out evidence linking Kohberger to the crime, including DNA samples, cell phone records and the movements of a white Hyundai Elantra.

According to the affidavit, a tan leather knife sheath with "Ka-Bar" and "USMC," along with U.S. Marine Corps insignia stamped on it, was located on a bed in the home next to Mogen’s body while processing the crime scene on Nov. 13, 2022.

Investigators were able to locate a "single source of male DNA" left on the button snap of the knife sheath, according to the affidavit.

Police recovered trash on Dec. 27, 2022, from Kohberger’s parents’ home, and the DNA from the knife sheath showed a connection to the DNA profile obtained from the trash, the affidavit stated.

Police said during a press conference Dec. 30, 2022, that the weapon used in the attack — believed to be a fixed-blade knife — has still not been located.

Investigators applied for search warrants for Kohberger's cell phone records, according to the affidavit, and the records showed Kohberger's phone traveling through Pullman, Washington, around 2:47 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022.

The phone stopped reporting to the cellular network shortly after, and investigators wrote in the affidavit they believe Kohberger either disabled the phone or turned it off.

The phone didn't report to the network again until 4:48 a.m., according to the affidavit, which showed the phone heading from Idaho toward Washington.

Police in Moscow had previously announced that they have been searching for a white Hyundai Elantra as a possible piece of evidence.

After the Moscow Police Department asked law enforcement to be on the lookout for the white Hyundai Elantra on Nov. 25, 2022, a WSU officer searched the school database and found Kohberger’s registration to a student apartment complex in Pullman on Nov. 29 at 12:28 a.m.

Less than 30 minutes later, another WSU officer found Kohberger’s car in the parking lot of the building while searching for white Hyundai Elantras.

Law enforcement sought out any footage from the area the morning of the killings, and according to the court documents, police found footage of what they believe to be a white Hyundai Elantra involved in the slayings the morning of the incident at 3:25 a.m.

The vehicle passed by the victims' residence three times, starting at 3:29 a.m., according to the affidavit. The fourth time the car passed by the home was at 4:04 a.m., and it was then seen leaving the neighborhood at a high rate of speed at 4:20 a.m.

WSU cameras picked up the sedan departing Pullman the morning of the killings around 2:44 a.m. and heading east toward Moscow and returning about 5:25 a.m., according to the affidavit.

The two surviving roommates

The affidavit also revealed new details from interviews with the roommates who were home during the attack and survived. Both roommates spoke with investigators, according to the affidavit, and one said she came almost face-to-face with the suspect.

The roommate — Dylan Mortensen, who is identified in court documents as D.M. — said she first woke up around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, when she heard what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog.

"A short time later, D.M. said she heard who she thought was Goncalves say something to the effect of 'there’s someone here,'" the affidavit said.

She opened her door multiple times after hearing crying and a male voice, according to the affidavit, and after opening it for the third time, she saw a man wearing a mask that covered his nose and mouth, around 5 feet 10 inches and "not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows," the court documents said.

Mortensen said the man walked past her toward a sliding glass door as she stood in a "frozen shock phase." After seeing the person, whom she did not recognize, she locked herself inside her room, she told authorities.

What happened to the house on King Road?

Soon after Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial, the prosecution and investigators asked the University of Idaho for access to the home on King Road. The FBI visited for several days this fall, getting documentation "to construct visual and audio exhibits and a physical model of the home," according to an Oct. 31, 2023, release from the university.

Plywood covering the windows and doors were removed for the process and then re-covered, the release also said.

The house was demolished at the end of December 2023, leading to mixed reactions from the community.

EDITOR’S NOTE (Jan. 3, 2023 at 11:20 p.m. ET): An earlier version of this story said Moscow PD announced at a press conference on Dec. 30 that Kohberger had been arrested "the night before." Police later clarified that Kohberger was arrested in the early morning hours of Dec. 30.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com