Idaho judge rules on Bryan Kohberger's motion to change venue in student murder trial

An Idaho judge has granted suspected quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger's request to have his trial moved out of Latah County, where he is accused of killing four college students in an early morning home invasion attack.

Judge John Judge's order was unsealed Monday, moving the trial to an unspecified new location, possibly the larger Ada County -- and finding that massive media coverage of the case could taint the local jury in and around Moscow, where the attack took place.

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.

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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."

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.

"This Court orders a transfer of venue ‘without specifying the new place of venue’ and refers 'the case to the administrative director of the courts for assignment by the Supreme Court to a court of proper venue in another judicial district and assignment of a specific judge to preside in the criminal proceeding,'" Judge wrote.

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.

Read the judge's order

Goncalves' family, based in the neighboring Kootenai County, said in a statement said relatives were "incredibly" disappointed in the decision.

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"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 family said in a statement. "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 vested in the outcome. We have always felt that a fair and impartial jury could be found in Latah County and still believe that is where the trial deserves to be held to help the community heal."

Judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger's behalf to four murder charges and felony burglary at his arraignment last year.

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Kohberger was a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, just 10 miles away across the state line at the time of the murders. 

Police arrested him at his parents' place in the Pocono Mountains after he drove home cross-country with his dad in the weeks following the slayings.

Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted. The victims will be honored with a memorial garden on campus designed by fellow students.

Fox News' Jon Rule contributed to this report.