Potential Bryan Kohberger jurors issue terrifying warning ahead of bombshell court case over brutal murder of four students

Potential jurors in Bryan Kohberger's quadruple homicide trial have issued a terrifying warning ahead of next year's bombshell court case over the murder of four University of Idaho students.

The urgent warning came in a filing by attorneys representing the 29-year-old criminology student that quoted residents of Latah County, Idaho who predicted there would be rioting in the streets if Kohberger is acquitted. 

'They'd burn the courthouse down. Outrage would be a mild description,' one resident reportedly told a defense expert in a phone survey of hundreds of potential jurors, according to documents obtained by Court TV.

'There would likely be a riot and he wouldn't last long outside because someone else would do the good ole' boy justice,' another said. 

Kohberger is set to face trial for the murders of college students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, in their off-campus home. 

Defense attorneys representing Bryan Kohberger have claimed that a 'mob mentality' against him is sufficient justification to move his trial out of Latah County

Defense attorneys now argue that those responses prove that the trial should be moved out of the city of Moscow and into the capital city of Boise. 

His attorneys claim that prospective jurors in Ada County, home to Boise, offered much more measured responses to the question of what would happen if Kohberger was not convicted - including 'they would go on with life as always,' and 'I don't know if there would be super strong feelings.'

Defense attorneys say the difference in the responses of residents in the two counties indicate that those who were more exposed to media coverage of the quadruple murders are more likely to prejudge Kohberger as being guilty.

'The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,' the attorneys wrote in the filing, according to the Idaho Statesman. 

'Latah County mob mentality will never produce a [jury pool] that results in a cross section of the community.'

Kohberger is accused of murdering University of Idaho students (L-R) Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle on November 13, 2022 

They noted that the county saw the most media coverage of the case in the state, and argued that much of that coverage is 'inaccurate and inflammatory. 

'The media coverage inundating Latah County does not tell citizens that no evidence has been presented at this time; that there are no facts on the record at this time; that Bryan Kohberger is innocent,' the filing says.

'Publicity regarding Mr. Kohberger has been ongoing since December 30, 2022. It rises and falls, but does not wane.'

The defense also rejected other solutions to ensure an impartial jury in the trial.

They claimed that the state's proposal to move the jury pool to neighboring Nez Pearce County would not help - arguing that the entire North Idaho region has been tainted by the media coverage of the case.

Additionally, they rejected a proposed solution of vetting any jurors - citing precedent that shows vetting alone is insufficient to ensure impartiality, and said sequestering a jury would be 'unnecessary and untenable,' according to NBC News.

The students were found dead that day inside their off-campus home, which has since been demolished

The scenes inside the home were so gruesome that blood dripped down the outside of the wall of the property, which investigators described as the worst crime scene they have ever seen

But Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson has argued that the defense failed to meet the burden of proof under Idaho law that a venue change is 'necessary and convenient.'

He says that the murders were so high-profile and the media coverage was so 'pervasive and wide ranging' that moving the trial would likely not yield jurors who are unfamiliar with the case.

Prosecutors also argued last week that a judge consider the 'interest of justice' for the families of the four students, who live nearby. 
 Through their attorney, the family of victim Kaylee Goncalves has said they want the trial to remain in Moscow - where Kohberger has been detained since January 2023.

'We are hopeful the trial stays in Latah County so as not to disrupt the scheduling order, and we are praying for no delay,' the statement said.

Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022

From cellphone data produced by prosecutors, the route allegedly driven by Bryan Kohberger on the night of the brutal Idaho murders may be a crucial piece of evidence in the state's case against the 28-year-old. In his alibi filing, his lawyers say they plan to dispute this data 

Kohberger has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022 - more than a month after the bloody murders that shocked the nation.

Prosecutors have claimed his 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.   

They have also said that cell phone data and surveillance put Kohberger's car at the crime scene - though the defense has disputed those claims.

The defense has instead said that 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.'

A trial is now scheduled for June 2025, and a hearing on whether to move the trial is scheduled for Thursday.