University of Idaho murders: Judge weighs change of venue decision

(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students, Bryan Kohberger, returned to court Thursday as the judge weighs whether to change the venue for his trial.

Kohberger’s lawyers hope to move the trial to a different county, arguing the local jury pool in Latah County, which encompasses the college town of Moscow, was tainted by pretrial publicity.

Defense lawyers surveyed Latah County residents and said their results found that the “pressure to convict” Kohberger was shown to be “so severe” the venue couldn’t possibly be impartial.

The defense said one respondent answered they would “burn the courthouse down” if he were not convicted. The same survey, according to the defense, found “much less emotional” responses from people living closer to Boise, where Kohberger’s lawyers suggested the trial be moved.

“The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,” defense attorney Elisa Massoth said in a filing this month.

The prosecution has said the case has national and international interest, and that the case has been covered plenty in Boise, so a change of venue would not solve any problem.

Prosecutors argued in a filing this month that the defense “failed to establish that a fair and impartial trial cannot be held in Latah County.”

Victim Kaylee Goncalves’ family wants the trial to stay in Latah County.

To Kaylee Goncalves’ mom, Kristi Goncalves, all Latah County citizens are victims.

She recalled seeing a huge crowd of people, some crying, at the University of Idaho’s healing garden, which opened to the public last week.

The local residents “deserve to have a hand in part of the healing and part of the justice,” she told ABC News Thursday.

“Anybody can find 12 people that can go into that courtroom without their mind made up. It’s America,” added Kaylee Goncalves’ dad, Steve Goncalves.

Moscow Mayor Art Bettge said in a statement last week that, if the case stayed in Latah County, “I firmly believe people would be able to set aside any personal feelings they have … set aside any information they may have read or heard … and make a determination of guilty or not guilty based on the evidence presented in the courtroom and deliberate according to the instructions provided to them.”

The trial is scheduled to start on June 2, 2025, and run until Aug. 29, 2025. Judge John Judge said in June that if the venue changes, the trial date would still hold.

Kohberger is accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in an off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Goncalves, 21, were all brutally murdered during the break-in.

Kohberger, who was a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

A not guilty plea was entered on Kohberger’s behalf. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik and Julie Scott contributed to this report.