MOSCOW, Idaho – Attorneys for accused quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger say media attention and a small jury pool make it impossible for their client to have a fair trial in Latah County.
Kohberger’s attorneys filed the motion for a change of venue this week. It’s not unexpected; the defense has said all along they didn’t believe he could get a fair trial in the town where the murders happened.
Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin and Kaylee Goncalves were stabbed to death in an off-campus home.
In the motion for change of venue, Kohberger’s attorneys detail the reasons they say the trial can’t be held in the small college town of Moscow.
Prosecutors have previously argued that because the crimes took place in Latah County, that’s where the trial should be held. They have not yet filed an official response to the change of venue motion.
Kohberger’s attorneys call the media coverage of the murders and his arrest “pervasive, inflammatory, and often inaccurate.” They say Kohberger’s case is “extreme” and that the county is “utterly corrupted by press coverage.”
They say that even though the coverage of the case is widespread, “Latah County residents have received the most media saturation within the State.”
Attorneys conducted a survey of people in Latah County and in other counties in the state and said the survey results show a prejudgment for conviction and death sentence.
Defense attorney Anne Taylor specifically says the trial should be moved to Ada County because it has more than ten times as many potential jurors as Latah County.
She also points to Ada County as having a courthouse big enough to accommodate this trial.
Taylor also says the fact that former Moscow Police Chief James Fry is now running for Latah County Sheriff could set him up for a conflict of interest if he’s in charge of empaneling a jury for a case in which he is also a witness.
The 319-page change of venue motion contains 13 pages of argument. The rest of the document contains examples of press releases issued in the case and also results of the potential juror survey.
Kohberger’s trial is set for June 2025.
The Latah County judge will hear arguments on the change of venue motion on August 29th.
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