Four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in November 2022, and the incident has since shocked the nation. Brian Kobergerwas set to go on trial in October 2023 as more information comes to light, but the judge recently postponed his trial due to allegations of bias surrounding the situation. Keep reading for a complete timeline and updates on the case.
Idaho college student murdered
Four University of Idaho students, Kaylee Gonsalves, Ethan Chapin, Madison Morgen and Zana Kernodle, were found dead in an off-campus apartment complex in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022. Authorities revealed that the young people were likely murdered while they were sleeping.
Hours before the stabbings, Gonsalves and Mogen had gone out to a local club, while Ethan and Zana had attended a Sigma Chi fraternity party.
Were there any survivors?
There are two survivors of the murder: roommates Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen, with Mortensen reportedly claiming to have seen the killer on November 13th, describing him as “someone in black clothing and a mask” who she said she watched roaming the house and then locked herself in her bedroom.
Bethany initially resisted legal requests to testify in court, while Koberger’s defense team, believing Funke’s testimony would prove Koberger’s innocence, urged her to appear in court in Idaho, but she eventually agreed to testify from Nevada during Koberger’s preliminary hearing in Idaho.
Brian Koberger is identified as a suspect.
A month after their deaths, police identified Koberger, a doctoral student in criminology at Washington State University, as a suspect. He was arrested and charged in Pennsylvania with four counts of first-degree murder and felony theft. Police explained that forensic analysis of the leather knife sheath linked Koberger to the crime scene. Authorities said the DNA was very similar to Koberger’s.
Brian Koberger on trial
During a preliminary hearing in January 2023, Koberger waived his right to a speedy trial, and the trial was originally scheduled for June 26. A jury formally indicted Koberger on four counts of first-degree murder in addition to felony theft. He pleaded not guilty at the time.
Koberger’s trial was ultimately postponed to October 26. His defense team reportedly argues that the grand jury indictment did not contain enough evidence linking Koberger to the crime scene and that the jury’s verdict was biased.
Brian Koberger’s alibi revealed
In August 2023, Koberger’s defense team argued that he had an alibi, claiming that he was driving at the time of the murder.
“Mr. Koberger has a long history of going out for drives alone,” court documents establishing Koberger’s alibi state. “Mr. Koberger has not asserted that he was in a specific location at a specific time. At this time, there are no specific witnesses who can testify with precision as to where Mr. Koberger was at each moment between the late night of November 12, 2022 and the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.”
Brian Koberger’s trial moved
In September 2024, a judge moved Koberger’s trial, citing “biased” media coverage that could “undermine a fair trial.” Koberger’s defense team had requested that the case be moved from Latah County, citing the “sensationalized” coverage he had received.
“Given the indisputable evidence presented by the defense, the extreme nature of the coverage of this case, and Latah County’s sparse population, the defense met a fairly low standard of showing a ‘reasonable likelihood’ that prejudiced coverage would jeopardize a fair trial in Latah County,” the Idaho judge said in a statement. CNN.