Defense lawyers for Brian Koberger are expected to seek a change of venue for the murder trial on Thursday, arguing that potential jurors have threatened to “burn down the courthouse” if the trial continues in the part of Idaho where the brutal killing took place nearly two years ago.
Koberger's lawyers said in a motion filed last week that they surveyed potential jurors in Latah County who warned of violence and unrest if Koberger is acquitted in 2022 in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students.
People surveyed said they would “burn down the courthouse” and riot if Koberger was acquitted. Some also said protesters would try to kill him if he was acquitted, according to court documents.
Kobeger is accused of killing four people — Ethan Chapin, Zana Kernodle, Kaylee Gonsalves and Madison Morgen — in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, inside a rented home near the Moscow campus.
Koberger's defense team has sought a transfer of the trial, arguing that extensive pre-trial news coverage and a “mob mentality” among local residents infuriated by the murder would prevent his client from receiving a fair trial.
Prosecutors, meanwhile, said the data Koberger's defense team used to determine whether potential jurors were biased was flawed.
Prosecutors also objected to a request to transfer him to Ada County, more than 300 miles away, according to court documents.
The prosecutors said the court “should refuse to move itself, the state and numerous witnesses hundreds of miles away simply to face a new jury with high media exposure.”
“Defendant has not met its burden of establishing that a change of venue in this case is necessary or expedient,” prosecutors argued in the filing.
Judge John Judge is scheduled to preside over the hearing Thursday morning.
Koberger is scheduled to go on trial in June 2025.
