The legal team of accused murderer Bryan Kohberger alleged a "litany of rumors and conjecture" among Latah County residents in an over 300-page legal filing made public last week.
Kohberger, 29, is accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. The victims, known as the "Idaho Four," are Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.
Kohberger is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.
The trial is scheduled to begin on June 2 of next year. The next upcoming hearing on August 29 is about the defense's motion to change the location of the trial, which is set to be held in Latah County.
"Bryan Kohberger cannot receive a fair trial in Latah County as protected by his rights under both the United States and Idaho Constitutions because of the pervasive, inflammatory, often inaccurate and highly prejudicial publicity," public defender Anne Taylor argued in the document.
The defense team conducted a phone survey of potential jurors to determine if they can act impartially. One question asked during the survey was "What rumors or theories, if any, have you heard about these murders, Bryan Kohberger, or the victims?"
The document details some of the rumors respondents had heard included that Kohberger was linked to murders in other states, he stalked the victims and he was romantically rejected by one of the victims.
"I've heard that Kohberger has been linked to other murders in Washington and
Pennsylvania," one survey respondent said.
Another respondent said they heard he was linked to a murder in Oregon.
In a press release from the Moscow Police Department included in the filing, officials said they had received inquiries from the media about a 1999 double stabbing in Pullman, Washington and a 2021 double stabbing in Salem, Oregon.
"While these cases share similarities with the King Street homicides, there does not appear to be any evidence to support the cases are related," police said.
Kohberger was four years old at the time of the stabbing in Washington.
The killer has not been identified in the Oregon stabbing that left one dead and another injured. Both attacks involved an intruder breaking into a residence with a knife at around 3 a.m. Authorities maintain the incidents are not linked to one another.
Pennsylvania authorities are investigating if Kohberger is linked to any unsolved murders in the state, NewsNation reported. However, he has not been identified as a suspect or charged in any incidents in the state.
Kohberger was initially arrested in Pennsylvania at his parent's home on December 30, 2022. He had just traveled across the country from Washington to Pennsylvania with his father to spend the holidays with his parents.
Kohberger and his father were stopped by police twice in Indiana within a matter of minutes during their cross-country trip. A deputy with the Hanco*ck County Sheriff's Department pulled the white Hyundai over on I-70 at around 10:41 a.m. on December 15 for following too closely. Kohberger had not been named a suspect in the case yet when he was stopped. Officials had identified a Hyundai Elantra as a vehicle of interest, but they had not released a license plate number for the car.
The deputy let Kohberger and his father off with a warning. At around 10:50 a.m., the car was stopped on the interstate for following too closely again. The officer let the two off with a warning.
After the arrest, officials searched Kohberger's car and seized a large amount of items, including a knife, a .40 caliber gun, a pocket knife, empty magazines for the gun, a black mask, hat and gloves.
Other survey respondents claimed Kohberger was stalking one or more of the victims.
"Don't know why he did it, there were some rumors that he stalked the girls, but can't
say that's for sure," one respondent claimed.
While several reports have emerged that Kohberger was often in the same location as the victims before the murders and he had photos of one of the victims on his phone, prosecutors have stated he did not stalk any of the victims.
Additional allegations included that Kohberger did not work alone, the crime involved a drug deal gone bad, Kohberger had a history of being disrespectful to women and murdered the victims just to see if he could get away with it.
Friends of Kohberger told the Idaho Statesman that he used marijuana and heroin, and he went to a rehabilitation program after developing an addiction, but he has never been arrested on drug charges. Officials did seize a "green leafy substance" from Kohberger's vehicle, but there has not been any substantiated evidence that the killings Kohberger is accused of involved a drug deal.
Jordan Serulneck, the owner of Seven Sirens Brewing Company in Pennsylvania, told NBC News that Kohberger had visited the business a few times and several women on his staff complained about his behavior.
He said that when women rejected his advances "he would get upset with them a little bit" and he allegedly called one of the employees a "b****."
The defense team found that over 98% of people in the County were aware of the case, with 68% following it "very" or "somewhat" closely.
Out of the potential jurors familiar with the case, around 67% believe Kohberger is guilty.
"Prospective jurors who have been exposed to prejudicial pretrial publicity enter the courtroom with case-specific knowledge gleaned from the media, social media, and discussions with friends, family members, and co-workers," the defense argued. "Uncovering the full extent of jurors' case-specific knowledge and opinions in high-profile cases can be extremely difficult."
The defense also said the small population of Latah County will make it more difficult to find an impartial jury.
"Ada County is the largest county in Idaho with more than ten times as many potential jurors than Latah County," the defense said. "Given the familiarity with the case throughout the entire state of Idaho, selecting an impartial jury, as guaranteed by the Constitution, will be a challenge. The best chance to find an impartial jury is to have the largest potential pool of candidates."
Latah County has a population of around 39,500, while Ada County has a population of nearly 495,000.
Ada County, which includes the state capital of Boise, will also have more space to accommodate the high-profile trial, the defense claimed.
"There are large courtrooms with adequate space and tables for the attorneys and Mr. Kohberger," the defense said. "The large courtroom provides space for each counsel to keep materials and necessary conversation out of eyesight or ear shot of the other party, spectators and the media. Due to its size, the courtroom can accommodate a large number of spectators and there is overflow space available for the public to watch the trial."
Venue Change Impact On Trial
Dr. Jill Leibold, a Senior Jury Consulting Advisor with IMS Legal Strategies, spoke to Newsweek about how extensive media coverage of a case can impact jurors.
"We have unconscious attitudes and feelings about certain things and the more exposure that you have, it's additive, it builds up," Leibold said. "And so while they may not be able to consciously access their feelings on a particular case, that exposure still has an impact."
Leibold explained that as time passes, the crime typically fades from the public eye, but that is not as true in smaller communities.
"That collective forgetting doesn't really happen in the same way in a small town, because it's still front and center, because it was such a light-bulb moment for that particular community and they remember those events more than somewhere in a larger venue," Leibold said.
Even though the case has been covered on a national level, she explained that a jury in a different area would be further removed from the case.
"Nothing is going to exist in a vacuum and people will have heard about it, but without those personal connections to the community and that community knowledge, it will have less of an influence," Leibold said.
Leibold laid out some key questions to ask potential jurors to ensure a fair trial.
"Have they taken action somehow? Have they talked about it? Have they written about it, sought out articles, researched more information? Those are the people who are less likely to be able to keep an open mind or to be fair," Leibold said.
She said the most important thing to look out for are "conspiracy theory jurors."
"They are very dangerous, because whichever side comes out with the juiciest conspiracy-esque story of their case, they're going to latch on to that directly," Leibold said. "So that would be something that would be very important in the jury selection process."
What's Next in the Trial
Prosecutors oppose the defense's efforts to change the venue of the trial.
"I don't think that a change of venue is going to solve any of these problems," Thompson told the court at a hearing earlier this year. "The state's position on venue is that the case should be held here. It's a Latah County case. We believe that we can select an appropriate panel of jurors from Latah County."
Thompson had until August 12 to submit a reply to the defense's filing. The defense can submit a rebuttal a week later.
Judge John Judge, of Idaho's 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, will rule on the motion. If the case is moved, he can make the decision to continue presiding over the proceedings, or he can withdraw and Idaho Supreme Court would pick a new judge to take his place.
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