The University of Idaho murder suspect, Bryan Kohberger, appeared scruffy and disheveled in a new mugshot after being transported from his arrest location to Boise for trial preparations. Kohberger, aged 29, was flown Sunday to Idaho’s capital, following the granting of a change of venue for the trial, which was initially set to take place in Latah County, where he is accused of brutally stabbing four students in their rental home in Moscow.
The decision to move the trial came after District Judge John Judge cited several reasons for the change, such as moving the trial to a larger courthouse and removing Kohberger from the location of the crime, with some fearing that people might want to “burn down the courthouse” if he was acquitted.
Kohberger’s defense team argued there would be unfair prejudice due to pre-trial publicity if the trial were held in Latah County, where jurors were more likely to have an emotional response to the killings. Ada County, which includes Boise, was seen as more favorable to the defense, due to its higher population and lower likelihood of media saturation compared to Latah County.
Kohberger is accused of murdering Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves, and Madison Mogen in their off-campus house on November 13, 2022. Cell phone data placing Kohberger near the crime scene was one of the primary pieces of evidence leading to his arrest and subsequent murder charges.
Bryan Kohberger is a Ph.D. student in criminology at Washington State University. He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the killings. Although Judge John Judge ordered the transfer, he did not specify where the trial, tentatively set for June 2025, would take place; that decision will be made by Idaho’s high court.
