Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger fights to move trial amid fears of riots: Live updates

Elisa Massoth, one of Kohberger’s defense attorneys, calls first witness of the day.

Todd Murphy, president of TrueScope, is on the stand.

TrueScope is a media monitoring service.

After a 15-minute delay, Bryan Kohberger’s hearing has started.

Bryan Kohberger’s hearing will be livestreamed on Judge John Judge’s YouTube page.

The hearing is expected to begin at 9am local time/12pm EST.

There is now an empty lot where the Moscow murder house once stood.

The off-campus home where the four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed was razed on December 28, 2023 during the school’s holiday break.

The demolition began before the sun came up and within two hours, the three-story house was gone.

Some of America’s most notorious murders happened in private homes.

Many were demolished – some have become tourist attractions.

Andrea Cavallier reports:

The family of Kaylee Goncalves shared photos of the slain University of Idaho student on Facebook Thursday morning and asked for prayers as they make their way to Moscow for Bryan Kohberger’s change of venue hearing.

“Please lift us up in prayer today. We are heading down to Moscow for the change of venue  hearing. This is a huge day for our family. We are anxiously waiting.”

The defense is seeking to move the trial, arguing a “mob mentality” has formed against him in Latah County.

But prosecutors have argued the families of the students would be unfairly impacted if the case moved elsewhere.

Following Kohberger’s hearing today, in which the defense will argue its motion for change of venue, several other court dates will take place ahead of the Idaho murders suspect’s 2025 trial.

On November 7, there will be a hearing for the motion challenging the death penalty.

A final pretrial hearing will take place on April 13, 2025.

Kohberger’s trial is set to start on June 2 and go until the end of August. There will be no trial proceedings on June 19 or July 4.

A former roommate of the slain University of Idaho students spoke out earlier this year about the moment she realized her friends were dead.

Ashlin Couch told KXLY that she moved into the doomed off-campus house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, in 2020, with her friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen. She moved out in May 2022 and Xana Kernodle took over the lease.

Six months later, Goncalves, 21, Mogen, 21, Kernodle, 20, and Kernodle’s boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death inside the student home.

In an emotional interview, Couch recalled the moment that she received an alert about a murder on King Road that continues to haunt her.

She said she sent a final text to Mogen, asking: “Are you okay?” But she never got an answer.

Officials believe the students were killed some time between 3am and 4am on Sunday 13 November 2022.

All four were stabbed to death with an “edged weapon such as a knife”.

There was no sign of forced entry, the door appeared to be unlocked and nothing seems to have been taken.

Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt said the victims were “likely sleeping” when they were killed, as all four were found in bed, and were stabbed multiple times.

According to the Latah County records, a car appearing to be Kohberger’s vehicle was seen on various surveillance cameras near the students’ home between 3.29 and 4.20am, before appearing once again in Pullman at 5.25 near the WSU campus.

Io Dodds looked back at a timeline of the case last November to mark one year since the murders.

Goncalves and Mogen, both 21, were seniors at the University of Idaho and were expected to graduate this year.

At a vigil weeks after the murders, Goncalves’ father told how the two “absolutely beautiful” young women first met in sixth grade and became inseparable.

Kernodle and Chapin, both 20, were juniors at the college and began dating months before their deaths.

Six months after the stabbings, the families of the slain students accepted posthumous awards for their achievements.

You can read more about them below.

Kohberger’s hearing is scheduled to take place today at 9am local time (12pm ET), according to a court documents.

Judge John Judge is due to preside over the hearing which will where the defense will argue its motion for change of venue.

It was originally due to take place in June, but was pushed back two months.