Suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger has had his trial date set for June 2025 following years of delays.
The 29-year-old’s blockbuster trial over the murders of four University of Idaho students in November 2022 is expected to last for up to three months.
Kohberger, a criminology PhD student, learned his trial date Thursday in a scheduling hearing – where his attorney repeated her request for a change of venue over fears he wouldn’t receive a fair trial.
Suspected quadruple killer Bryan Kohberger has had his trial date set for June 2025
Kohberger is accused of murdering University of Idaho students (L-R) Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle on November 13, 2022
Kohberger’s initial trial date was set for the spring of 2024, however his lead defense attorney Anne Taylor has filed for extensions and further hearings numerous times since his arrest, including delaying offering his official alibi until May 2024.
When he finally submitted the alibi, prosecutors tore it apart, as Kohberger claimed he was ‘driving alone’ on the night of the murders ‘to look at the moon and stars.’
In that alibi filing, Taylor said she would be calling on a phone data analysis expert to back up his claims he was miles from the scene, which is one of the pieces of evidence prosecutors and the defense have repeatedly clashed over.
At the hearing on Thursday, both sides discussed deadlines for them to submit evidence in court, including what can be used for his sentencing if found guilty.
It comes as Latah County officials say they intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted over the grisly murders.
The off-campus home where the four grisly murders took place was torn down in December amid the delays, despite calls from the victims’ families to keep it standing
The manner in which the killer navigated the three-story home to kill the four students – who were sleeping in separate rooms and floors – in the early hours of a November morning has raised questions about his motives and potential knowledge of the layout
Boyfriend and girlfriend Ethan Chapin (left) and Xana Kernodle (right) were slain in bed together in the gruesome murders in November 2022
The families of the victims have shared their frustration at the unending delays, with the mother of Kaylee Goncalves (left, with Madison Mogen) saying: ‘It’s gut-wrenching how slow everything has to go. Why does this have to be so drawn out?’
Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022, over a month after the murders that shocked the nation.
The month-long search for the alleged killer led to widespread media attention, with the families of the victims since using the spotlight to condemn the proceedings against Kohberger.
In December 2023, the mother of victim Kaylee Goncalves said the ongoing process has been ‘gut wrenching.’
‘It’s gut-wrenching how slow everything has to go. Why does this have to be so drawn out?’ Kaylee’s mother Krisi said in an interview with KHQ.
‘It’s important, I get it, but there are facts, we have certain facts, we have certain knowledge. I can’t believe that this is how it works.’
From cellphone data produced by prosecutors, the route allegedly driven by Bryan Kohberger on the night of the brutal Idaho murders may be a crucial piece of evidence in the state’s case against the 28-year-old. In his new alibi filing, his lawyers say they plan to dispute this data
Prosecutors allege that a white Hyundai matching one owned by Kohberger was seen in surveillance footage fleeing the scene of the crime
Investigators were seen in January 2023 removing a bloodied mattress from the home where four University of Idaho were murdered
The scenes inside the home were so gruesome that blood dripped down the outside of the wall of the property, which investigators described as the worst crime scene they have ever seen
Detectives found a Ka-Bar knife sheath on the bed with the bodies of Mogen and Goncalves. DNA on the sheath was later statistically matched to Kohberger through genealogy testing
In December, Idaho officials again came under fire after the off-campus home where the four students were stabbed to death was torn down, against the victim’s families’ wishes.
Although both prosecution and defense agreed for it to be torn down, the families argued against it, with Goncalves’ loved ones fearing the move would ‘destroy one of the most critical pieces of evidence in the case.’
Before it was torn down, the scenes inside the home were so gruesome that exclusive DailyMail.com images showed blood seeping down the outsides of the home.
When he was arrested, prosecutors cited partial DNA matches found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath found at the home. No murder weapon has ever been found.
In an ongoing back-and-forth over such evidence in court – also including cell phone data and surveillance allegedly of Kohberger’s car at the crime scene – the defense claimed that prosecutors have not turned over what they may present in court.
Taylor filed a motion last month to compel the defense to do so, with the defense countering that they are restricted by some federal laws due to the FBI’s involvement in the case.
The defense has also filed to dismiss the entire case, claiming he was indicted by a biased grand jury and the case was tainted by misconduct by the prosecution and the admission of invalid evidence. The motion was denied.