No decision was made to set a trial date for University of Idaho student murder suspect Bryan Kohberger on Wednesday, but a hearing will be held in May to determine whether proceedings should be moved elsewhere. .
Kohberger returned to court as Judge John Judge heard arguments in favor of scheduling the trial and the defense's request for a change of venue.
“I'm listening closely to both sides and it's a complicated case,” Judge said. “It's a death penalty case.”
Prosecutors had previously requested a trial date for June of this year, after the end of the spring semester, but the defense wants more time to prepare.
BRYAN KOHBERGER ASKS COURT TO CHANGE VENUE AFTER DELAYS IN TRIAL FOR STUDENT MURDER IN IDAHO
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing on Friday, August 18, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, USA. (August Frank/Pool via REUTERS)
“A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County due to extensive and inflammatory pre-trial publicity, allegations made to the public about Mr. Kohberger by the media that will be inadmissible at his trial, small size of the community, to the lascivious nature of the alleged crimes and the seriousness of the charges Mr. Kohberger faces,” Anne Taylor, Kohberger's lead defense attorney, wrote in a January court filing.
Taylor had previously asked the court to delay Kohberger's trial until at least 2025.
Kohberger, a 29-year-old criminology Ph.D. from Pennsylvania. student, was attending Washington State University in Pullman, across the state line from Moscow, Idaho, where prosecutors allege he entered an off-campus home around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and massacred four students with a large knife.
The victims were Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, who were childhood best friends, as well as their housemate Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, both 20.
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Madison Mogen, above left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in Goncalves' latest Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. . (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
IDAHO MURDERS CASE: JUDGE TO CONSIDER BRYAN KOHBERGER'S LAWYER'S REQUEST FOR TRIAL START DATE IN SUMMER 2025
A surviving housemate saw a masked man leave through the back door after hearing sounds of fighting minutes after the attack, but police were not called until around noon the next day.
More than six weeks passed before police captured a suspect. Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains after a lengthy investigation that included help from the FBI and police from several states.
The house at 1122 King Road, where four University of Idaho students were killed on Nov. 13, 2022, is boarded up in Moscow, Idaho, on Dec. 27, 2023. Crews began demolishing the building on Dec. 28 . (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
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The judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger's behalf at his arraignment in May. He could face the death penalty if he is convicted.
The trial was initially expected to last six weeks, but lawyers now expect it to last between 12 and 15 weeks.
