The judge presiding over the quadruple murder case against Bryan Kohberger, a former criminology Ph.D. candidate accused of murdering four University of Idaho students, agreed to loosen a tight gag order that blocked nearly everyone from discussing the criminal proceedings.
Under the new gag order, prosecution and defense attorneys are now allowed to speak to the media, though they will have to follow strict rules in order to ensure Kohberer’s right to a fair trial is not violated.
The families of the four victims are also allowed to talk to the press, but their attorneys are not.
District Judge John Jones noted the original gag order — which also barred law enforcement officers and other people tangentially related to the case from speaking to reporters — was “arguably overbroad and vague in some areas.” He handed down the ruling late Friday afternoon.
Kohberger is accused of killing Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, 21-year-old best friends, as well as their housemate, Xana Kernodle, and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, both 20. They were all found fatally stabbed in a home in Moscow, near the University of Idaho campus, on Nov. 14.
The grisly discovery rocked the quiet Idaho community and neighboring Pullman, Wash., where Kohberger was a graduate student at Washington State University. The killings and the weeks-long search for the murderer went on to nab national headlines, prompting a sweeping gag order.
In response, a coalition of 30 news organizations requested that the Idaho Supreme Court reject the gag order, contending it violates the First Amendment rights of a free press. The high court declined to weigh in on the matter and said the media coalition should first ask the lower court to lift the order before asking the Idaho Supreme Court to step in.
Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury in May on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. He has since pleaded not guilty and is being held at the Latah County Jail without bail.