Bryan Kohberger moved to Boise before his murder trial at an Idaho college

Bryan Kohberger, accused of murdering four University of Idaho students, was flown Sunday morning from the Idaho county where he was incarcerated to another county where his trial will take place.

The state Supreme Court last week ordered a change of venue and Kohberger's transfer from Latah County, where the November 2022 killings took place, to Ada County, more than 300 miles south and home to Idaho's capital, Boise.

The Ada County Sheriff's Office booked him into the local jail. Kohberger's trial is tentatively scheduled for June in Boise.

Latah County District Judge John Judge ruled in favor of lawyers for 29-year-old Kohberger, who argued that a trial in Latah County would be unfair because the intense publicity leading up to the trial would create a “mob mentality” against him.

At a hearing on the issue, defense experts presented research suggesting that the most effective way to prevent jury bias was to change the venue of the trial.

Given Latah County's smaller population of 41,000, just over half of whom are eligible to serve as jurors, the judge wrote in his order that it was “far more likely” that residents there had ties to someone involved in the case, making it “more likely” that they would have discussed it – and therefore “more difficult to keep the jurors' identities secret.”

“While the problem of extensive, sensationalist reporting is not unique to Latah County,” Judge added, “it may be more impactful given the volume of reporting combined with the smaller population.”

Ada County has a population of about half a million people.

The state Supreme Court said in a ruling last week that the case would be assigned to a new district judge, Steven Hippler. Latah County prosecutors and Kohberger's public defender are expected to remain in place throughout the trial.

The new judge has to make another important decision in the coming months: the prosecution wants to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted. Kohberger's defense wants to prevent this and argues in its complaint that the death penalty violates the US Constitution. A hearing on this case is scheduled for November 7.

Kohberger was arrested more than a month after the fatal stabbing of the four students – roommates Madison Mogen (21), Kaylee Goncalves (21) and Xana Kernodle (20) and Kernodle's friend Ethan Chapin (20) – in a residential building on the edge of the University of Idaho campus. Kohberger lived in nearby Pullman, Washington, and was a doctoral student at Washington State University at the time.

In May 2023, not guilty pleas were entered on his behalf to four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Authorities have not publicly confirmed a motive; a news blackout prevented many of those involved from speaking.

The public prosecutor has announced that it DNA evidence, details of cell phone usage and surveillance videos link Kohberger to the crime.

Kohberger's defense pointed out that he often drove late at night and that cell phone tower data showed he was miles away at the time the four students died.

Families of some of the victims expressed disappointment at the delay and urged that the case remain in Latah County so its residents could represent the jury.

The Goncalves family expressed optimism that the process is moving forward, writing on their Facebook page Thursday: “Ada County, see you soon.”