Bryan Kohberger has trial delayed in slayings of Idaho college students – and proceedings set to last months

Quadruple homicide suspect Bryan Kohberger’s trial in the deaths of four University of Idaho students has been delayed.

The 29-year-old former criminology lecturer is now due to face murder charges for the November 2023 slayings of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in a Boise courtroom starting on July 30, 2025 – nearly two months from when the trial was originally scheduled to begin, according to the Tri-City Herald. 

Jury selection will begin on July 30, and the criminal trial will begin on August 11. Proceedings are then expected to last up to November 7.

The revised trial date appears to represent a compromise between the two options Ada County Judge Stephen Hippler presented at a hearing last month – May 2025, which prosecutors favored, and September 2025, which was the defense’s preference, the Idaho Statesman reports.

The judge had to change the date for the high-profile trial after the state Supreme Court agreed to move it 300 miles from the small town of Moscow, Idaho, where the ruthless killing occurred, to the state capital of Boise.

Kohberger’s defense attorneys had argued that extensive media coverage and strong emotions in the university town would make it difficult to find an impartial jury, as prosecutors seek the death penalty.

Prosecutors, though, argued they could find impartial jurors in Moscow by bringing in a large pool to choose from. They also said the move inconveniences the family members of victims, attorneys, and witnesses.

They have claimed that Kohberger’s DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath found at the victim’s off-campus home, though no murder weapon has ever been found.   

Officials also said that cell phone data and surveillance put Kohberger’s car at the crime scene – though the defense has disputed those claims.

Instead, the defense claimed Kohberger was miles away from the off-campus house where the students were murdered, and in an official official alibi in May 2024, they claiming that Kohberger was ‘driving alone’ on the night of the murders ‘to look at the moon and stars.’

Kohberger – who has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022 – made his first court appearance in Boise two weeks ago.

At the hearing, Hippler said he was ‘happy to be here,’ but added: ‘I expect for you at all times to remain civil to each other, that you not engage in personal attacks, ad hominem attacks, that you not engage in theatrics, not misstate facts or the law to the court.’ 

The stakes in the case are ‘as high as they can be,’ Hippler added. 

Kohberger is now due back in court on November 7.