Families of the University of Idaho murder victims expressed frustration on Friday over the failure to set a trial date for Bryan Kohberger this week.
In a statement obtained by Brian Entin of NewsNation, the families of Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle said, "Why are victims' families so misunderstood? We just want justice for our loved ones. Everyone around can claim they understand our feelings and sympathize with us but they never really understand what we want which is fairly simple."
"We want communication, we want efficiency in prosecution, we want a court that will make timely decisions and we want a fair trial," the statement said. "This illusion by everyone involved that they can control what happens is frustrating. A jury will hear the evidence and return a verdict. But we need to get there sooner rather than later."
The statement on Friday comes shortly after one of Kohberger's hearings this week where prosecutors and the defense failed to reach an agreement on a start date for his trial.
Kohberger, 29, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in connection with the fatal stabbings of Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four University of Idaho students were found dead in their off-campus home on November 13, 2022.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents' residence in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania in December 2022 and was later extradited to Idaho, where he currently remains in custody. He has maintained his innocence in the case, previously standing silent during his arraignment, allowing the judge to enter not-guilty pleas for each of the charges against him.
On Wednesday, Kohberger's attorney, Anne Taylor and Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson met in court to discuss a possible start date of the trial. The Idaho Statesman reported that Thompson had requested the trial begin on March 3, 2025, while Taylor has asked for more time to review evidence and information and has requested that the trial not begin until June 2025.
"Not only do we have a huge volume of information, the way I'm getting it is completely disorganized," Taylor said in court this week.
Thompson said on Wednesday that the prosecution has provided Taylor with "more than 95 percent" of information and evidence, the Idaho Statesman reported.
However, the judge overseeing the case, Judge John Judge, ruled in favor of Taylor's request on Wednesday and agreed not to set a trial date until after he makes a decision on another request from Taylor to move the trial out of Latah County.
Another hearing was set for May 14 to decide on whether the trial will be moved out of the county, the Idaho Statesman reported.
Newsweek reached out to Thompson and Taylor's offices via email for comment.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
