Idaho’s Supreme Court has assigned Bryan Kohberger’s upcoming student murders trial to a judge in Ada County after his defense team successfully sought a change of venue to take the proceedings away from rural Latah County, where he is accused of killing four college students.
A one-page order signed by Idaho’s Chief Justice Richard Bevan assigned District Judge Steven Hippler to the case.
Latah County District Judge John Judge granted the defense’s request for a change of venue last week, citing a number of factors that he said collectively were in favor of moving the trial to a larger courthouse, further removed from the location of the crime.
IDAHO JUDGE RULES ON BRYAN KOHBERGER’S MOTION TO CHANGE VENUE IN STUDENT MURDER TRIAL
Madison Mogen, top 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’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
The court also ordered Kohberger’s transfer from the jail in Moscow, Idaho, where he’s been held since January 2023, into the custody of the Ada County Sheriff’s Office.
The change of venue could impact scheduling surrounding the trial, which is expected to begin next June after prior delays, according to Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based defense attorney who previously represented another high-profile Idaho murder suspect, the “cult mom” Lori Vallow.
“I think they will want to get things moving and established,” she told Fox News Digital. “Judge Hippler will want his own timelines and deadlines set, and strictly adhered to.”
Bryan Christopher Kohberger arrives at Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania on Jan. 3, 2023, before waiving extradition to Idaho to face murder charges in the stabbing deaths of four university students. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
Ada County also has a larger courthouse to accommodate more members of the public and what is expected to be a large contingent of journalists.
Prosecutors sought to have the trial held at the courthouse in Moscow, next to the jail where the 29-year-old Kohberger has been held without bail since shortly after his arrest in Pennsylvania at his parents’ house, roughly seven weeks after the Nov. 13, 2022 slayings.
Kohberger’s lawyers argued that the suspected quadruple murderer cannot get a fair trial in Latah County due to “extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity.”
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Bryan Kohberger talks to his attorney Anne Taylor before a hearing on Aug. 18, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (August Frank-Pool/Getty Images)
Judge wrote that he based his decision on the “totality” of factors, including legal and logistical concerns, expert testimony and the concerns of lawyers on both sides. But he deferred to the state Supreme Court to choose a new location.
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Kohberger is accused of entering an off-campus rental home around 4 a.m. on that date and fatally stabbing 21-year-olds Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves as well as 20-year-olds Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
He was a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, just 10 miles away across the state line at the time of the murders. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
Goncalves’ family previously denounced the change in venue but said relatives would welcome the appointment of a new judge in the case.
“What was the point of the non-dissemination order, private meetings, closed door tactics, allowing the Defendant to be dressed in a suit for every televised hearing etc…if not to keep the trial in Latah County?” the fmaily said in a statement last week after Judge ordered the change in venue. “As victims’ families you are left to just watch like everyone else and really you have little rights or say in the process and at the same time you are the most invested in the outcome.”