The attorney for a man accused of stabbing four Idaho University students to death is urging a judge to move the murder trial out of the county, arguing that the intense media coverage and public attention surrounding the case would make it impossible to get a fair trial. The request was the latest legal twist in more than 20 months. Quadruple Murder Case It was reported in international news.
“Latah County’s prolific media coverage is not just a one-off story,” said Public Defender Anne Taylor. Brian Koberger“The material is not mild, but rather inflammatory, emotive, often misleading, false and poorly sourced,” he said in a motion to change venue made public Tuesday. “There is no reasonable belief that any length of time spent preparing for trial will slow down media coverage.”
She said the court should be moved to Boise to protect Koberger’s constitutional right to a fair trial.
Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson said he opposed delaying the trial. He argued that the case had received national and international attention, and moving it out of the county would not affect potential jurors who are unfamiliar with the case.
Both sides are scheduled to present their positions at the hearing on August 29.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, is charged with: Stabbed four students to death – Kaylee GoncalvesMadison Morgan, Jana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin – early morning, Nov. 13, 2022, in a rented home near the campus in Moscow, Idaho.
Steve Goncalves, Kaylee’s father, “48 hours” he said Last year, he said “there was evidence she woke up and tried to escape the situation” and that “she was trapped” based on the way the bed was set up.
Police arrested Koberger six weeks later at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania, where he was spending his winter break. Investigators said they used DNA from a knife sheath found at the scene, surveillance footage and cellphone data to link Koberger to the crime.
Coburger has maintained his innocence. His attorneys have said in court documents that he drove alone the night of the murder, something he often does.
His trial is temporary. Scheduled for June 2025.
It will be up to Judge John C. Judge to decide whether to remain in Moscow, population 41,000, or move 296 miles south to Boise, population 236,634.
“Lata County, Idaho, is a small, tight-knit community. Surveys show that it is a community with a bias toward criminal convictions and death sentences,” Taylor wrote. “Some of the community’s major employers are those associated with law enforcement and the University of Idaho.”
Earlier this year, Taylor argued in court: The prosecution was hiding information The defense team argued that the Latham County prosecutor’s office did not provide the full video showing Koberger’s vehicle next to the residence where the four students were killed. Taylor said the defense team “only received a portion” of the video, which is Probable Cause Statement They said the footage was used to arrest Koberger and that there was no sound in the footage.
Goncalves’ family said this spring they were frustrated that the case was taking so long to move through the judicial system.
“This joke has been going on for 17 months, and then you have a hearing, and then you have a hearing on the decision made at that hearing before the final hearing, and then another hearing,” the family said in a statement. “This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions.”
