(NewsNation) — Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, warn that a “mob mentality” against their client justifies the need to move his trial out of Moscow and into Boise, Idaho, instead.
If Kohberger’s case ends in acquittal, “Outrage would be a mild description” and “They’d burn the courthouse down,” one resident reportedly told a defense expert in a phone survey of hundreds of potential jurors, according to documents obtained by Court TV.
However, Shanon Gray, an attorney for the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves, said the victims’ families want the trial to remain in Latah County, he told NewsNation’s Ashleigh Banfield.
The trial for Kohberger is expected to start next June. A court hearing to discuss a potential change of venue is set for Thursday.
Kohberger faces four murder charges in connection with the November 2022 stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in their off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. Authorities in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, arrested Kohberger, then a student at Washington State University, on Dec. 30, 2022.
While his trial was initially scheduled for October 2023, Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial, pushing the date back.
If convicted, Kohberger, who entered a not guilty plea, could face the death penalty.
Investigators say they were able to link Kohberger to the crime using DNA found on a knife sheath found at the scene, surveillance videos and cellphone data. Meanwhile, Kohberger’s lawyers said in court filings that he was out driving alone on the night of the killings.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.