University of Idaho murder trial will be held in Boise, Idaho Supreme Court rules
(MOSCOW, Idaho) — The University of Idaho quadruple murder suspect, Bryan Kohberger, will stand trial in the capital city of Boise, Idaho, according to a new ruling from Idaho’s Supreme Court.
With this new venue, a new judge, District Judge Steven Hippler, has been assigned to the case.
The original judge on the case ruled Monday that the case would be moved out of Latah County, where the crime took place, agreeing with the defense who argued that Latah County was tainted by pretrial publicity.
Defense lawyers surveyed Latah County residents and said their results found the “pressure to convict” Kohberger was shown to be “so severe” that the venue couldn’t 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, which is about 300 miles south of Moscow.
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.
The relatives of victim Kaylee Goncalves didn’t want the venue changed, saying they “felt that a fair and impartial jury could be found in Latah County,” and they believed keeping the trial locally would help the community heal.
Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in an off-campus house in the early hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University at the time of the crime, was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.
The trial is set to begin on June 2, 2025.
If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty.
(NEW YORK) — Three major wildfires were raging across Southern California Tuesday, threatening thousands of homes as firefighters and the state National Guard were battling to bring the flames under control amid a triple-digit heatwave, officials said.
The Line Fire in San Bernardino County, the Airport Fire in Orange County and the Bridge Fire in Los Angeles County are all being fueled by extremely dry vegetation and spreading rapidly, officials said.
The Line Fire
As of Tuesday afternoon, the Line Fire was threatening 65,600 structures, including homes and commercial properties, according to the California Department of Forestry and Fire Prevention (Cal Fire).
Fire crews achieved 5% containment on the blaze on Monday night as Gov. Gavin Newsom deployed the state National Guard to support the ongoing response to extinguish the blaze.
While evacuation orders were issued for 9,200 structures in the area, with another 56,400 structures under evacuation warnings, Cal Fire said no buildings have been destroyed or damaged.
“We’re pouring resources into this incident aggressively by deploying more air and ground support through the California National Guard,” Newsom said in a statement. “This is on top of nearly 2,000 firefighters, nearly 200 engines, and air assets we already have tackling this fire. California stands with these communities and has their backs.”
Newsom said the California National Guard will support the ongoing response to the Line Fire, the cause of which remains under investigation. Eighty troops split into four 20-person teams and one military police company have been sent to the fire scene to assist the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department with traffic control in evacuated areas.
National Guard troops are also helping firefighters battle the flames. Four UH-60 Blackhawk helicopters for water bucket dropping operations and two C-130 aircraft with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems are among the resources deployed by the National Guard, Newsom said.
The fire, which ignited Sept. 5, is burning in steep and rugged terrain, making access difficult, Cal Fire said. Firefighters are working to build “control lines” to contain the blaze.
“Stronger winds are predicted Tuesday which could help fire spread and contribute to longer range spotting. Mid-week cooling may moderate fire activity and increase fuel moistures,” Cal Fire said.
The Airport Fire
Another major fire in Southern California broke out Monday afternoon in an unincorporated area of Orange County, prompting the evacuations of 1,427 homes, according to Cal Fire. The fast-moving Airport Fire in Trabuco Canyon in the hills southeast of Irvine had burned 9,333 acres by Tuesday afternoon, according to Cal Fire.
The fire was 0% contained Tuesday afternoon, according to Cal Fire.
Two firefighters battling the blaze were hospitalized with heat-related injuries and one civilian suffering from smoke inhalation was also treated at a hospital, Cal Fire said. The Fire was burning in the direction of the Cleveland National Forest.
At least four people, including a couple and their 3-year-old child who were hiking on a trail in the area, had to be airlifted to safety, officials said. A man and his cats were airlifted to safety from their home, officials said.
Several emergency communication towers on Santiago Peak in the fire zone, as well as towers operated by local broadcasting stations, were being threatened by the fire, officials said.
As of Tuesday afternoon, no structures had been destroyed or damaged, according to Cal Fire.
The Airport Fire began around 1 p.m. PT on Tuesday, sparked by county public works crews working on a fire prevention project by trying to move boulders to prevent public access — mostly by motorcyclists — to an area of the canyon with a lot of dry vegetation that could ignite easily, officials told ABC Los Angeles station KABC.
“The fire has been classified as unintentional,” said Orange County Fire Authority Deputy Chief TJ McGovern.
At least 1,000 firefighters were battling the blaze Tuesday.
The Bridge Fire
Elsewhere, the Bridge Fire, which started on Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles Country, had burned 4,178 acres as of Tuesday afternoon. The fire north of Azusa in the Angeles National Forest was 0% contained.
Evacuation orders are in place for a mobile home park, campgrounds and a small river community.
(NEW YORK) — More than 600 pounds of methamphetamine have been found concealed within a shipment of celery in California, officials said.
The incident occurred on the evening of Aug. 9 when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers at the Otay Mesa Commercial Facility in California encountered a 34-year-old man driving a commercial tractor-trailer who was seeking entry into the United States from Mexico, according to a statement on Monday issued by CBP.
“The driver, who held a valid border crossing card, was transporting a shipment declared as celery,” authorities said. “Following routine procedures, CBP officers directed the driver, the tractor-trailer, and its cargo to secondary inspection for a more thorough examination.”
During that inspection, a CBP K-9 unit alerted officers to the presence of narcotics and officials ended up intercepting 629 pounds of methamphetamine contained within 508 packages hidden among the celery with an estimated street value of approximately $755,000, officials said.
“Our officers’ vigilance and expertise once again thwarted an attempt to smuggle narcotics disguised as everyday produce,” said Rosa E. Hernandez, port director for the Area Port of Otay Mesa. “This discovery underscores our unwavering commitment to protecting our communities from the perils of drug trafficking.”
CBP officers subsequently seized the narcotics and the commercial tractor-trailer involved in the smuggling attempt and the currently unnamed driver was handed over to Homeland Security Investigations for further investigation.
CBP credits this seizure as a result of Operation Apollo, “a holistic counter-fentanyl effort that began on Oct. 26, 2023, in southern California, and expanded to Arizona on April 10, 2024,” authorities said. “Operation Apollo focuses on intelligence collection and partnerships, and utilizes local CBP field assets augmented by federal, state, local, tribal, and territorial partners to boost resources, increase collaboration, and target the smuggling of fentanyl into the United States.”
(ATHENS, Ga.) — The murder trial for the suspect accused of killing 22-year-old nursing student Laken Riley on the University of Georgia’s campus is expected to start in mid-November, a judge said Friday, as the defense is seeking to move the high-profile case to another county.
Athens-Clarke County Superior Court Judge H. Patrick Haggard said jury selection would likely begin on Nov. 13, with the trial starting on Nov. 18.
The suspect, Jose Ibarra, appeared in the Athens-Clarke County courtroom for the hearing Friday morning.
His defense is seeking to move the trial out of Athens-Clarke County, arguing in a motion filed on Thursday that it “will not be possible to find an impartial jury to hear the matter.” They also cited the “extensive media coverage” of the case in the county.
Haggard preliminarily gave prosecutors within 10 days of the motion’s filing to respond to the request and said he would like to have a motions hearing sometime in late September or early October.
The defense said the schedule sounded reasonable. Prosecutors said they would like to wrap up the trial proceedings before Thanksgiving for the jurors, which Haggard said was “not lost on me.”
Ibarra, 26, was indicted by an Athens Clarke County grand jury on malice murder and felony murder and other offenses in May. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Riley, a student at Augusta University, was found dead in a wooded area on the Athens campus on Feb. 22 after she didn’t return from a run. The indictment alleges Ibarra killed her by “inflicting blunt force trauma to her head and by asphyxiating her” and seriously disfigured her head by striking her “multiple times” with a rock.
Additional charges in the 10-count indictment include aggravated battery, kidnapping with bodily injury, aggravated assault with intent to rape, obstructing or hindering a person making an emergency telephone call and tampering with evidence. The latter charge alleged that he “knowingly concealed” evidence — a jacket and gloves — involving the offense of malice murder.
He was also charged with a peeping tom offense. The indictment alleges that on the same day as Riley’s murder, he spied through the window of a different person who lived in an apartment on campus.
In a separate motion filed on Thursday, the defense sought to sever that charge from the indictment, arguing that the offense is against a different alleged victim and would “create significant prejudice.”
Ibarra was denied bond following his arrest on Feb. 23 and is being held at the Clarke County Jail.
Police have said they do not believe Ibarra — a migrant from Venezuela who officials said illegally entered the U.S. in 2022 — knew Riley and that this was a “crime of opportunity.” Her death has become a rallying cry for immigration reform from many conservatives.