The suspect accused of killing four students at the University of Idaho is requesting his trial be moved to Boise, Idaho, for a more fair trial.
Bryan Kohberger, the defendant accused of carrying out the highly-publicized 2022 mass murder in Latah County, says the area has become too saturated with media coverage asserting his guilt before the trial.
“The prolific media coverage, in Latah County, is not a mere passing story,” Anne Taylor, a public defender for Kohberger, said on Tuesday. “The content is not benign, rather, it is inflammatory, emotion evoking and often misleading, false, and poorly sourced.
“There is no reasonable belief that media coverage will slow, regardless of how long the case takes to prepare for trial,” Taylor continued.
A 4 a.m. home invasion left four undergrads dead on Nov. 13, 2022 – Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
Police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen’s body that allegedly had Kohberger’s DNA on the snap.
According to court documents, investigators also tracked Kohberger’s Hyundai Elantra on a meandering route around the area to and from the crime scene.
The trial has already been postponed for more than a year as defense attorneys accuse the prosecution of slow-walking the disclosure of evidence through discovery.
“Latah County, Idaho is a small, tightly knit community; based on survey results it is a community with a prejudgment for conviction and death sentence,” Taylor said in her change-of-venue motion.
She added, “Some of the major employers in the community are people connected to law enforcement and the University of Idaho.”
Kohberger faces four charges of first-degree murder and a felony burglary count. If he is convicted, he could face the death penalty.
He is due back in court in August for a hearing on his defense team’s motion to change venue.
