The Supreme Court of Idaho ruled to move the murder trial of Bryan Kohberger to Ada County, the largest county in the state, on Thursday.
Kohberger, 29, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He allegedly fatally stabbed University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in 2022.
The trial is scheduled to begin on June 2, 2025.
Chief Justice G. Richard Bevan ordered the case be moved from Latah County to Ada County.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool, File, Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, Pool and Kai Eiselein/New York Post via AP, Pool
The news comes after Judge John Judge, of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, approved the defense’s motion for a change of venue on Friday.
Bevan reassigned the case to District Judge Steven Hippler. Judge previously presided over the case.
Kohberger will also be transferred into Ada County Sheriff custody. The Ada County Jail is located in Boise and can hold up to 1,116 inmates.
Ada County has a population of nearly 495,000 while Latah County has a population of around 39,500. Ada County is about a five-and-a-half-hour drive from Latah County.
Judge’s ruling had stated the case would be referred to the administrative director of the courts, then the state Supreme Court would assign a new venue.
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At a hearing in August, the defense argued that media coverage of the case had impacted potential jurors, which Judge made reference to in his ruling.
“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,” Judge wrote in the ruling. “Thus, the court will grant Kohberger’s motion to change venue for presumed prejudice.”
He also claimed it would be “inconvenient” and “present serious safety risks” to hold the trial in Latah County.
“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 parties and the Court can focus on the case and not on peripheral issues,” Judge wrote.
Prosecutors argued that the change of venue would not impact the outcome of the trial.
“This case has media coverage everywhere,” Deputy Attorney General Ingrid Batey said at the hearing in August. “That is something that was acknowledged by the defense.”
After hearing from both sides, Judge said he would take their arguments into account in his final decision.
“I will say this is probably, professionally, the most difficult decision I’ve ever had to make,” Judge said at the time.
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