Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger, the former criminal justice PhD student accused in the grisly slayings of four University of Idaho students, are fighting to get his quadruple murder trial moved out of Latah County, Idaho, citing the community's "mob mentality" against him.
Kohberger, now 29, allegedly stabbed Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, to death in their off-campus apartment in November 2022.
A motive in the heinous killings remains unclear.
As part of the newest development in the case, court documents filed earlier this week indicate Kohberger's defense attorneys are petitioning to relocate the trial to Ada County, after the results of a theoretical phone study in the Latah County area allegedly indicated a general hostility toward the alleged killer, NBC News reported, citing court records.
If a jury failed to convict Kohberger, respondents said they'd "burn the courthouse down" and that "they would probably find him and kill him."
Another said, "There would likely be a riot and he wouldn't last long outside because someone would do the good ole' boy justice."
A judge will hear the state and defense's arguments over locality on Aug. 29.
Until then, here is everything we know about the high-profile case.
The victims
Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Chapin, died in an apparent knife attack near the University of Idaho on Nov. 13, 2022.
Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle were roommates at the off-campus, Moscow, Idaho home, and Chapin – Kernodle's boyfriend – was spending the night, when they were slaughtered in their sleep, authorities determined.
Roommates Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke were also home at the time of the attacks, but were uninjured and ruled out as suspects early on in the investigation, ABC News reported at the time.
Bryan Kohberger is arrested
It wouldn't be until six weeks and 2,500 miles later that authorities would arrest Kohberger for the murders, after DNA evidence, surveillance video and cell phone records allegedly tied him to the scene of the crime.
Kohberger was taken into custody while visiting his parents in Pennsylvania Dec. 30, 2022.
The charges
Kohberger was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary for the college students' slayings.
He pleaded not guilty to the charges in May 2023.
Who is Bryan Kohberger?
Kohberger is the only suspect accused of killing Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Chapin, according to prosecutors.
Whether or not he knew the victims remains unclear, but Goncalves' mother claimed Kohberger followed her daughter on Instagram prior to the slayings.
"You would go to Maddie's Instagram account and look at her pictures, and he liked them," Kristi Goncalves told 48 Hours in June. "He had liked them. Bryan's name was under a lot of Maddie's pictures. Liked her pictures, liked that picture and that picture, and that picture, and that picture. So, he was actively looking at the Instagram account."
The Goncalves' said Kohberger's account was deleted following his arrest.
Since it's reported deletion, the authenticity of the account could not be independently confirmed and the defense has maintained Kohberger did not know any of the victims.
Kohberger's Alibi
Kohberger claimed he was out "stargazing" the night of the murders, and therefore couldn't be tied to the crime scene – an alibi the Goncalves family said they don't buy.
"We have been waiting on this information for months and it has finally arrived," the family said in a statement, in part, in May, according to KREM-TV. "It is so hard not knowing anything about the case and you find you have to cling to dates, motions and hearings in order to figure out anything. A big part of this has been waiting on the Alibi information. Now that it is here we feel even more confident in the prosecution of the Defendant. The Defense's claim is that the Defendant was driving late at night hiking/running and stargazing. We are not sure why it has taken over a year for this to come out as those don't seem to be complicated activities."
What's next
On Aug. 29, a judge will hear arguments from both sides over the locality of the trial.
A tentative trial date of June 2, 2025 has been set, and is expected to run through the end of August of next year.
