A judge on Thursday set a June 2025 date for the trial of a man accused of killing four University of Idaho students nearly two years ago, a sign that a day in court is nearing for both the defendant and the victims’ families after lawyers have been battling legal motions for months in the high-profile case.
The tentative timeline, set by Latah County District Judge John Judge, was announced as suspected murderer Brian Koberger, 29, appeared for a bond hearing and prosecutors agreed to set the trial for next summer.
Koberger’s public defender, Ann Taylor, said she was “working hard” to meet that deadline and called it “reasonable.” The judge said he expected the trial, including sentencing if Koberger is found guilty, to take about three months and urged his lawyers to meet various deadlines.
“We don’t want to be left scrambling a month before trial,” the judge said.
Given the amount of attention and speculation surrounding the case, the judge must still decide whether to move the trial out of Latah County, which could delay the start of the trial. The judge is expected to make a decision in August.
Prosecutors say Koberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary after he allegedly broke into an off-campus apartment near Moscow State University in Idaho in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022, and stabbed to death roommates Kaylee Gonsalves, 21, Madison Morgen, 21, and Zana Kernodle, 20. Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, was also killed inside the home with a large fixed-blade knife, though investigators said no knife was found at the scene.
In May 2023, a judge entered a not guilty plea on Koberger’s behalf.
The Gonsalves family, who have been outspoken about the slow pace of the legal process, welcomed the agreement on a trial date.
“We hope the trial will continue in Latah County and that the timeline will not be disrupted. We pray that there will be no further delays,” they said in a statement. “Today marks a little bit of a step closer to justice for Kaylee, Maddie, Zana and Ethan.”
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Koberger is convicted, and an initial trial date has been tentatively set for October 2023.
But the hearing was put on hold after Koberger waived his right to a speedy trial and his defense sought to have the original grand jury indictment dismissed. The judge denied the request, ruling that Koberger “failed to contest the indictment on the grounds of jury bias, lack of sufficiency of evidence, and prosecutorial misconduct.”
Koberger is being held without bail in the Latah County Jail.
The motive for the murder remains unclear in a college town that hasn’t seen one murder, let alone four, in several years.
A gag order was issued last year barring lawyers, police or other officials from speaking out about the case, but Koberger’s alibi defense has been made public to the public in court documents and a recent motion hearing.
The defense argues that Koberger, a graduate student living across the Idaho border in Washington state, often went out for late-night drives, but that cell tower data shows he was driving miles away when the four University of Idaho students were killed.
Prosecutors are expected to rely on DNA evidence, cellphone use and surveillance video to link Koberger to the crimes.
According to an affidavit filed after his arrest several weeks after the murders, male DNA was found on a knife sheath left in the victim’s apartment, placing Koberger at the scene. The affidavit also stated that security camera footage showed a white Hyundai Elantra near the scene, which Koberger was also driving.
