The trial over the stabbing in Idaho is moved to another location

A judge on Friday granted Defense attorneys' request for a change of venue in the high-profile trial of the man accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in their off-campus home in 2022.

Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the former criminology student charged with the quadruple murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kermodle and Ethan Chapin, had argued that a telephone poll showed residents speculated that people would “riot,” “burn down the courthouse” and possibly kill him if he was acquitted. On Monday, Judge John C. Judge agreed that Kohberger could not receive a fair trial in Latah County, where the killings took place, saying in court papers that residents had been influenced by widespread news coverage and social media speculation about the case, some of which was “potentially biased and false.”

The judge noted that Kohberger has been the subject of “extensive negative publicity” since his arrest on December 30, 2022, after investigators said his DNA was found on a knife sheath found at the crime scene. plead not guilty was later entered in his favor after he refused to speak at his arraignment.

Kaylee Goncalves' family said they were “incredibly disappointed” by the verdict in a statement provided to HuffPost by her attorney on Monday.

“We have always believed that a fair and impartial jury could be found in Latah County and still believe the trial should take place there to help the community heal,” the family said.

But some residents fear that their community is at risk of violent vigilantism if a jury decides in Kohberger's favor, according to some respondents to a telephone survey conducted by social psychologist Bryan Edelman for Kohberger's defense team.

Some respondents said they feared an acquittal would lead to unrest, an “insurrection” and “anarchy,” and raised the possibility that people would enact “street justice” by killing Kohberger.

“Probably someone would find him, take him to their forest and hang him,” one person said. “Some would hunt him down to make sure he gets what he deserves,” another said.

A large majority of respondents said they believed Kohberger was guilty, Edelman reported. More than half, or nearly 50 percent, of respondents said they thought the death sentence was appropriate.

Other respondents said an acquittal would be shocking and devastating.

“I think this would just destroy our community,” one person said.

“We would be very angry, disappointed, let down and confused,” said another.

The judge also based his decision to move the venue on practical considerations.

Holding the trial in the Moscow courthouse would cause “security and order problems.” It would also create logistical difficulties and overwhelm the resources of court officials and law enforcement agencies.

The judge has not yet said which judicial district the trial will be moved to.

Prosecutors had objected to a change of venue last month, pointing out that while the survey included residents of Boise – Idaho's largest city and 300 miles from Moscow – it did not survey other nearby counties where case detection rates may have been lower.

Moving the trial to Boise, prosecutors said, would be inconvenient and expensive for court officials and witnesses, who would have to travel hundreds of miles “to face another jury with similarly high media exposure.” They also said they are confident that the victims' immediate families, who are “constitutionally entitled” to attend the trial, live closer to the Latah County Courthouse than to Boise.

As things stand, the trial is scheduled to begin next June.