University of Idaho murders: Judge to weigh change of venue decision

August 29, 2024

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(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The suspect in the murder of four University of Idaho students, Bryan Kohberger, is in court Thursday as the judge weighs whether to change the venue for his trial.

Kohberger’s lawyers hope to move the trial to a different county, arguing the local jury pool in Latah County, which encompasses the college town of Moscow, was tainted by pretrial publicity.

Defense lawyers surveyed Latah County residents and said their results found that the “pressure to convict” Kohberger was shown to be “so severe” the venue couldn’t possibly be impartial.

The defense said one respondent answered they would “burn the courthouse down” if he were not convicted. The same survey, according to the defense, found “much less emotional” responses from people living closer to Boise, where Kohberger’s lawyers suggested the trial be moved.

“The traumatized town of Moscow is understandably filled with deeply held prejudgment opinions of guilt,” defense attorney Elisa Massoth said in a filing this month.

The prosecution has said the case has national and international interest, and that the case has been covered plenty in Boise, so a change of venue would not solve any problem.

Prosecutors argued in a filing this month that the defense “failed to establish that a fair and impartial trial cannot be held in Latah County.”

Moscow Mayor Art Bettge said in a statement last week that, if the case stayed in Latah County, “I firmly believe people would be able to set aside any personal feelings they have … set aside any information they may have read or heard … and make a determination of guilt or not guilty based on the evidence presented in the courtroom and deliberate according to the instructions provided to them.”

The trial is scheduled to start on June 2, 2025, and run until Aug. 29, 2025. Judge John Judge said in June that if the venue changes, the trial date would still hold.

Kohberger is accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in an off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022. Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were all brutally murdered during the break-in.

Kohberger, who was a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.

A not guilty plea was entered on Kohberger’s behalf. If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

ABC News’ Sasha Pezenik and Julie Scott contributed to this report.

Arrest made in alleged murder of female soldier on Army base

U.S. Army Fort Leonard Wood/Facebook

(FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo.) — An Army specialist has been charged with the murder of a fellow soldier whose body was found on an Army base last week.

Spc. Wooster Rancy, 21, is accused in the murder of Sarah Roque, a 23-year-old sergeant, officials said Thursday.

Last week, Roque was found dead in a dumpster at Fort Leonard Wood in Missouri.

Rancy also faces obstruction of justice charges, officials said. He is currently in pretrial confinement ahead of a preliminary hearing.

A combat engineer, Rancy is originally from Miami and joined the Army in 2022, officials said.

It is not yet clear what led to Rancy’s arrest or the motive in the killing.

Roque, of Ligonier, Indiana, was reported missing after she failed to report for duty last week.

In a press conference after her body was found, Maj. Gen. Christopher Beck said her death was being investigated as a homicide.

“As a commander and a leader, this is a tragedy,” Beck said. “This is something that we never want to happen, we never want for the family to have to endure, or for the unit to have to endure.”

Roque served as a mine dog handler, officials said. Since she enlisted in 2020, she was awarded the Army Commendation Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Good Conduct Medal and the Army Service Ribbon.

“Sarah not only served our country bravely and honorably as a soldier, she was also a daughter, a sister and a friend to many,” Beck said.

Caroline Ellison, key witness in FTX fraud case, set to be sentenced

Caroline Ellison, former chief executive officer of Alameda Research LLC, exits court in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 10, 2023. (Stephanie Keith/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

(NEW YORK) — Caroline Ellison, a key witness in the FTX case, is set to be sentenced on Tuesday for her role in one of the largest financial frauds in history.

Ellison, 29, a former crypto executive, had pleaded guilty to multiple charges in connection with the federal fraud and conspiracy case involving the crypto trading platform. She cooperated with prosecutors and was a key witness during the trial last year of former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried, her former boyfriend.

Ellison — who was the co-chief executive of Alameda Research, Bankman-Fried’s companion hedge fund — testified over three days during the trial, telling the court that she committed fraud with her former on-again-off-again boyfriend and at his direction.

Bankman-Fried was ultimately found guilty on all counts for defrauding FTX customers out of $8 billion.

Ahead of her sentencing in New York Tuesday afternoon, Ellison’s attorneys urged Judge Lewis Kaplan to be lenient, arguing Ellison “unflinchingly acknowledged her own wrongdoing, without minimization, blame shifting or self-pity.”

“She time and again proved herself an enormously credible and important cooperating witness” against Bankman-Fried, they added.

Federal prosecutors agreed Ellison provided “extraordinary cooperation that was crucial to the Government’s successful prosecution” of Bankman-Fried.

“Although she did not blow the whistle on any misconduct before FTX’s collapse, she came clean prior to FTX’s declaring bankruptcy to her employees on November 9, 2022,” prosecutor Danielle Sassoon wrote in a letter to the judge. “Ellison approached her cooperation with remarkable candor, remorse, and seriousness.”

Ellison faces 110 years in prison, according to court filings.

Prosecutors declined to make a specific sentencing recommendation. Defense attorneys suggested a sentence in line with a recommendation from probation officials of time served plus three years supervised release.

“Caroline poses no risk of recidivism and presents no threat to public safety. It would therefore promote respect for the law to grant leniency in recognition of Caroline’s early disclosure of the crimes, her unmitigated acceptance of responsibility for them, and—most importantly—her extensive cooperation with the government,” defense attorney Anjan Sahni wrote in a letter to the judge.

Sahni outlined Ellison’s “complex” relationship with Bankman-Fried that began when the two met at Jane Street Capital in 2015 when she was an intern and he was a junior trader. He said their “on-again-off-again, sometimes-secret relationship” had “warped” her moral compass and led her to take actions “that she knew to be wrong, helping him steal billions.”

Bankman-Fried was sentenced in March to 25 years in prison. Judge Kaplan also ordered that he forfeit $11 billion that the government can use to compensate victims.

The former crypto billionaire has filed an appeal to overturn his conviction.

Two former FTX executives who also pleaded guilty in the case — former director of engineering Nishad Singh and co-founder Gary Wang — are set to be sentenced in October and November, respectively.

Tropical system in Gulf forecast to strengthen to hurricane ahead of Louisiana landfall

An ABC News graphic shows the expected path of a tropical storm in the Gulf of Mexico on Monday, Sept. 9, 2024. — ABC News

(NEW YORK) — A tropical system churning in the southern Gulf of Mexico is forecast on Monday to become Tropical Storm Francine as it moves toward a Wednesday landfall in Louisiana, the National Hurricane Center said.

A Tropical Storm Watch has been issued for parts of Texas, with the expectation that hurricane watches could be issued later today for parts of the Gulf Coast.

The storm is forecast Tuesday night into Wednesday morning to significantly strengthen into a Category 1 hurricane with winds near 80 mph.

The storm could then make landfall in western Louisiana late Wednesday afternoon or early evening, as a possible Category 1 hurricane, weather officials said.

Storm surge, rainfall flooding and hurricane wind gusts are forecast from Port Arthur, Texas, to Lake Charles, Louisiana, officials said.

A foot of rain is forecast for parts of Louisiana, with up to a half a foot in eastern Texas.

Heavy rain with flood threats is expected to spread into New Orleans and north into the Mississippi River Valley and Mid-South, all the way to Jackson, Mississippi, and even into Memphis, Tennessee, by Thursday, officials said.