Idaho
Idaho judge rejects Bryan Kohberger’s request to delay murder trial, present theories of ‘alternate perpetrators’
An Idaho judge says he won’t postpone the quadruple murder trial of a man accused in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students.
Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler made the ruling Thursday, telling Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys that jury selection will begin in August and opening arguments will likely be held around Aug. 18.
Hippler also rejected the defense team’s request to present theories of four “alternate perpetrators” to the jury, writing that evidence presented by the defense is “entirely irrelevant.”
“Nothing links these individuals to the homicides or otherwise gives rise to a reasonable inference that they committed the crime; indeed, it would take nothing short of rank speculation by the jury to make such a finding,” Hippler wrote in the order.
Kohberger, 30, a former graduate student in criminal justice at Washington State University, is charged with four counts of murder.
Prosecutors say he sneaked into a rental home in nearby Moscow, Idaho, not far from the University of Idaho campus, and fatally stabbed Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves on Nov. 13, 2022.
Kohberger stood silent at his arraignment, prompting a judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Defense attorney Anne Taylor had asked the judge to delay the proceedings.
She said beginning the trial this summer would violate Kohberger’s right to a fair trial in part because his defense team was still reviewing evidence and struggling to get potential witnesses to agree to be interviewed.
She also said extensive publicity could taint the proceedings and that a cooling off period would help ensure an impartial jury.
But Hippler noted that interest in the case has only grown and that previous delays have only given the media more time to “provide coverage to a public audience which is clamoring for answers.”
“The longer the public is made to sit and wait for the facts to come out at trial, the more time there is for inflammatory, speculative stories, movies and books to circulate and more time for prior ones to be rebroadcast, purchased, viewed and consumed by the public,” he wrote.
Hippler also denied the defense’s request to present evidence of four “alternate perpetrators” to jurors, after finding that evidence was flimsy at best and would lead to “wild speculation,” needlessly dragging out a trial that is already expected to last three months.
The names of the four were redacted from the ruling, but Hippler briefly described them: Three of the people were socially connected to at least one of the victims, and interacted with them socially in the hours before the killings, lived within walking distance of the home and had been to the home before.
The fourth person had only a “passing connection” to one victim after noticing her at a store several weeks before the deaths, Hippler said.
All four cooperated with investigators, and their DNA didn’t match samples taken at the crime scene, Hippler said, and there is no admissible or significant evidence that any one of them had a motive, was present at the crime scene or was otherwise connected to the crime.
“There is not a scintilla of competent evidence connecting them to the crime,” Hippler said.
Jury selection will begin Aug. 4, Hippler said, with the trial starting about two weeks later.
BOISE (Idaho Capital Sun) — Idaho is seeing more money, and more out-of-state money in lobbying than it likely ever has.
Secretary of State Phil McGrane told attendees at the Annual Associated Taxpayers of Idaho Conference Wednesday that more than $2.5 million was spent on lobbying in 2025.
McGrane highlighted new data visualization tools available online at voteidaho.gov, including to track lobbyist spending. (See data visualizations from Idaho Secretary of State’s Office below.)
During the 2025 session, lawmakers approved changes to lobbying reporting that now require “indirect lobbying” to be reported, which would capture activity like social media or texting campaigns during the legislative session to encourage residents to support or oppose certain bills. The new bill also requires monthly reporting year-round, instead of just during the three-month legislative session. Around $700,000 has been spent on lobbying since the 2025 legislative session ended in April, McGrane said.
There are 392 registered in-state organizations that lobby in Idaho, and there are 300 out-of-state organizations registered to lobby in Idaho.
The new data visualization runs through each month of 2025, as the lobbying money gets spent. The state legislative session this year ran January through April 4. By the end of the year, the top spender was Modern Ag Alliance, based out of St. Louis, Missouri. The group spent over $620,000 lobbying on one bill, House Bill 303, which would have largely granted legal immunity to pesticide manufacturers. The bill never advanced out of the committee.
“Most of the spending comes right at the end of February into March,” McGrane said Wednesday. “So in the heat of the session is when money starts to really trickle in. It starts off slow, and then comes in strong.”
The second-highest spender of the year was the American Federation for Children, a Washington D.C.-based organization that advocates for public subsidies for private school education. The entity has spent more than $200,000 in Idaho, with a large focus on House Bill 93 — a private school choice tax credit that provides a total of $50 million for families to go toward private school tuition or other educational expenses. The governor signed HB 93 into law on Feb. 27.
There are around 400 lobbyists registered in Idaho, McGrane said.
“For all of you legislators, that means there’s four of them for each one of you,” he said.
The second new data visualization dashboard available online depicts the close legislative races the state has seen since 2018. All 105 seats in the Legislature are up for election every two years.
There have been 49 legislative primary races decided by 435 — the number of attendees registered for Wednesday’s conference — or fewer votes since 2018.
“Fifty races were determined by just the people here,” McGrane said. “So if we can get more people to participate, more people to show up, they can have a big impact.”
Idaho Capital Sun is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Idaho Capital Sun maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Christina Lords for questions: info@idahocapitalsun.com.
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SOUTH BOISE, Idaho — The Idaho Department of Correction is taking a closer look at sexual safety inside its prisons at the request of Governor Brad Little, following allegations from a former inmate who says she endured years of sexual abuse by correctional officers.
Andrea Weiskircher, who spent 20 years incarcerated in Idaho, told Idaho News 6 that abuse became so common she no longer recognized how wrong it was.
“I came to prison when I was 19. I’m 43 now. So I’ve done 20 years… There’s a lot of things that go on in the prison that shouldn’t happen,” Weiskircher said.
WATCH: How one woman’s claims pushed IDOC to re-examine its policies on sexual misconduct
Former Idaho inmate says staff sexual abuse was ignored as IDOC reviews safety policies
Weiskircher wrote multiple letters to Idaho News 6 detailing her allegations, prompting renewed attention on how sexual misconduct reports are handled behind bars. This week, she returned to the prison complex for the first time since her release to attend an IDOC Board of Correction meeting on sexual safety.
“I think that I got exposed to a lot of very disturbing sexual activity inside the prison and it became like a normal mindset for me because I’d been there for so long,” she said.
In 2024, Weiskircher filed Prison Rape Elimination Act (PREA) reports, submitting what she describes as evidence. She said her case was marked “unfounded,” but after months of speaking out, IDOC has agreed to re-examine it.
During the board meeting – where phones and cameras were not allowed – IDOC officials outlined the department’s reporting system, which includes hotline numbers, intake screenings and mandatory PREA evaluations.
Weiskircher said the policies are not the issue. “They talked about their policy again that they don’t enforce,” she said, adding that retaliation and fear often prevent people from reporting abuse.
Department officials also acknowledged a gap in Idaho law. The current statute defining “sexual contact” only includes intercourse or genital contact – excluding other unwanted intimate acts such as groping or kissing. IDOC Direct Bree Derrick noted in the meeting, “I would think there are people who are already interested in taking this issue up and kind of closing the gap that exists there.”
According to data presented during the meeting, IDOC recorded 188 sexual-misconduct allegations in 2023 – 101 classified as sexual harassment and 87 as sexual abuse. IDOC says only 13 staff-on-resident allegations were reported, and none were substantiated.
Weiskircher said what she heard in the meeting didn’t reflect her experience. “It made me angry. They talked about their policy again that they don’t enforce… the data they just showed the board of directors was false,” she said. She believes her reports, and others she witnessed, were not captured in the numbers presented.
For her, returning to IDOC was about ensuring that future reports are taken seriously. “I’m not going to stop until it gets fixed,” she said.
IDOC says it is working with lawmakers to expand the state’s definition of sexual contact and will continue internal reviews along with required federal PREA audits.
Idaho
Local trio want you to have a ‘Parents Night Out,’ and they’ll watch your kids – East Idaho News
Do you want to know what’s happening in the eastern Idaho business scene? We’ve got you covered. Here is a rundown of this week’s business news across the valley.
BIZ BUZZ
IDAHO FALLS
Trio launching new drop-in daycare service in Idaho Falls
IDAHO FALLS – The owners of a new business want to babysit your kids while you have a night out with your significant other.
Parents Night Out Co. opens this Friday and provides drop-in childcare for parents wanting a date night on Friday and Saturday. The same service is available for weddings, corporate events or other occasions.
Owners Patrick and Nicole Marks run it out of their home at 2649 Newman Drive in Idaho Falls. They, along with their business partner, Mely Rodriguez, are hosting an open house and grand opening on Saturday from noon to 2 p.m. Santa and Mrs. Claus will be there, and raffle prizes will be available.
In a conversation with EastIdahoNews.com, the Marks say there’s a lot of interest in this service throughout the community, and they’re excited to serve families.
“We’ve been working with the Idaho Department of Health and Welfare to get background checks and CPR, first aid and (AED) certified,” Nicole says.
“We don’t have an official state license, as of right now,” Patrick adds, explaining that they’re currently exempt from it because there isn’t a category that fits the type of service they offer.
The Marks say they’ve been approved to move forward while the department figures out the licensing situation.
“We have everything we need to (become licensed) once we figure out what category we fall under,” says Patrick.
The Marks are the parents of four kids 8 and under. For them, finding a babysitter is always a challenge. If they find one, they say it’s always expensive.
Nicole and Rodriguez, who is also a mom, used to work together. It was Rodriguez who first pitched her the idea of a daycare service for weddings and events.
Rodriguez and the Marks joined forces, and Parents Night Out was born.
“We want it to be homey. We want kids to come and feel safe and have fun,” says Nicole.
Parents Night Out is a side hustle for the trio.
Nicole has a day job as a forklift and machine operator at the Idaho National Lab. Patrick drives a cement mixer for Central Valley Concrete Cutting & Coring, and Rodriguez works at Kenworth Sales.
They’re excited to begin operation and want to see the business grow. Eventually, they’d like to have their own building from which to operate the daycare service.
They’re inviting the community to come and meet them at the open house on Saturday.
“One of the reasons we’re having the open house is so people can see the house and meet us, ask questions and have an open dialogue,” Rodriguez says.
Drop-in daycare services are available every Friday and Saturday from 4 p.m. to midnight. The cost is $5 an hour per child and another $3 an hour for every additional child in the same household. Event and wedding childcare can be arranged by appointment.
To learn more, visit the website or Facebook page. You can also call (208) 810-1340.
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