Trial will be moved to new venue, judge rules

The anticipated trial of the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students will be moved out of the same county where the killings took place in late 2022, a judge decided in a ruling released Monday.

Latah County District Judge John Judge heard arguments last month about whether the trial of Bryan Kohberger, tentatively set for next June, should be moved to Ada County, about 300 miles south and home to Idaho’s capital, Boise. At the end of the hearing, Judge said it would be the “most difficult decision” of his career, and that he would study the law and arguments before ruling.

Judge did not immediately specify the new location in his motion granting a different venue.

Lawyers for Kohberger, 29, had called defense experts who said that potential jurors from Latah County would most likely have biased views of the case because of the intense media coverage and that they would be unable to provide an impartial verdict.