(NewsNation) — Bryan Kohberger is set to be on trial this year after being charged with the murder of four University of Idaho students. Proceedings will begin in Boise after the trial was moved from Latah County, where the killings took place.
The public nature of these killings has made the key players famous. Here are the people you need to know:
Bryan Kohberger
At the time of the killings, Kohberger was a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. Kohberger grew up in Pennsylvania, with a former friend telling NewsNation in 2023 that Kohberger had been bullied as a teenager.
“He was always good to me. Over the years, that changed. Going into his senior year, he lost a lot of weight. And I heard that he might have become a bully,” Casey Arntz said.
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom during a hearing Tuesday, June 27, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho. Defense attorneys for Kohberger who is charged in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students asked a judge Tuesday to order prosecutors to turn over more records, laying the groundwork for challenges to the case. Kohberger, 28, was indicted in May on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the Nov. 13, 2022, slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune via AP, Pool) 
This photo released by the State of Idaho, which prosecutors claim to have been taken from Bryan Kohberger’s phone, shows Kohberger, accused of slaying 4 University of Idaho students, gesturing in a selfie on Nov. 13, 2022, hours after the homicides occurred. (State of Idaho via AP) 
FILE – Bryan Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is escorted into court for a hearing in Latah County District Court, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) 
Bryan Kohberger, left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool) 
Bryan Kohberger, the man accused in the killings of four University of Idaho students, was transported by plane from the Idaho county where he was being jailed to another county where his trial will be held. (Credit: Ada County Sheriff’s Office) 
FILE – Bryan Kohberger listens to arguments during a hearing, Oct. 26, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Late Friday, Dec. 15, a judge ruled that the grand jury indictment of Kohberger, who is charged with killing four University of Idaho students, was conducted properly and will stand. (Kai Eiselein/New York Post via AP, Pool, File) 
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court, Monday, May 22, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP) 
Bryan Kohberger, facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of four University of Idaho students last fall, is seen at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. 
FILE – Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students, leaves after an extradition hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pa., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. Nearly two months after four University of Idaho students were killed near campus — and two weeks after a suspect was arrested and charged with the crime — the picturesque school grounds are starting to feel a little closer to normal. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool, File) 
Bryan Kohberger is escorted by law enforcement after arriving at Pullman-Moscow Regional Airport on Thursday, Jan. 4, 2023, in Pullman, Wash. Kohberger was extradited from Pennsylvania earlier Thursday, for the alleged murder of four University of Idaho students on Nov. 13, 2022. (Austin Johnson/Lewiston Tribune via AP) 
Bryan Kohberger, right, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, is led away following a hearing in Latah County District Court, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool) 
Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students, is escorted to an extradition hearing at the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pa., Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, Pool) 
Alleged Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger outside Pennsylvania courthouse on Jan. 3, 2023. Credit: NewsNation
Arntz also claims Kohberger had a drug problem, even using her to try to get drugs.
Kohberger received his bachelor’s degree from DeSales University followed by his master’s degree from the university’s criminal justice program. He has now been charged with first-degree murder and is expected to stand trial in August.
Judge Steven Hippler
Judge Steven Hippler has been a district judge since 2013. He is also the deputy administrative district judge for the Fourth Judicial District.
Hippler has rejected many arguments from Kohberger’s defense team, including one to restrict the 911 call during the trial. He also decided that the text messages between the two surviving roommates could be shown in court.
Forensic experts who could testify
The defense is expected to call numerous law enforcement and forensic experts to the stand during the August trial. On that list was Jenny Ayers, a forensic scientist with the Idaho State Police. She is responsible for collecting evidence and facilitating the processing of crime scenes.
A forensic accountant for the FBI, Michael Douglass, was listed to testify about the financial activity of Kohberger, the victims and the two surviving roommates.
FBI agent to testify on phone records
A motion also called FBI Special Agent Nicholas Ballance to the stand to discuss the phone records. Cellebrite employees Heather and Jared Barnhart are also expected to testify as digital experts regarding Kohberger’s phone and computer.
There are several others who could testify, including Detective Darren Gilbertson and Dr. Gary Dawson, a toxicologist.
Kaylee Goncalves
Kaylee Goncalves was 22 years old when she was killed. Goncalves was a senior from Rathdrum, Idaho. She was also a member of the Alpha Phi sorority and was majoring in general studies in the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences.
Her father, Steve Goncalves, has spoken with NewsNation several times about the killings. When asked about the case, Goncalves told NewsNation, “We try to work with the prosecution to make sure that we’re all on the same page. And yeah, I think they have a strong case.”
Madison Mogen
Madison Mogen was 21 years old when she was killed along with her friends. The night before the killings, Mogen was with Goncalves at the Corner Club, a local sports bar in Moscow, Idaho. A video showed the two ordering food around 1:40 a.m. from a local vendor.
Mogen and Goncalves allegedly got a ride home from a “private party.” Investigators believe that the students were stabbed between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. Mogen was a senior from Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, and a member of the Pi Beta Phi sorority. She was majoring in marketing in the College of Business and Economics.
Xana Kernodle
Xana Kernodle was 20 years old when she was killed. The night before, she had attended a party at the Sigma Chi fraternity house with her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, who was also killed. Kernodle was a junior from Post Falls, Idaho.
Kernodle was a member of Pi Beta Phi sorority and was majoring in marketing in the College of Business and Economics.
Ethan Chapin
Chapin, who was dating Kernodle at the time, was 20 years old at the time of the killings. Chapin had been a freshman from Mount Vernon, Washington. He was a member of the Sigma Chi fraternity and was majoring in recreation, sport and tourism management.
At approximately 1:45 a.m. on the morning of the killings, Chapin, Kernodle, Mogen and Goncalves arrive back at their off-campus rental home on King Road. The three women lived at the house with two other roommates. Chapin, Kernodle’s boyfriend, was staying the night there.
Who else could testify at Bryan Kohberger’s trial?
It is unclear if the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, will testify. Just before noon on the day of the killings, the pair found one of the victims on the second floor of the home before calling their friends. Then, someone called 911 about an “unconscious individual.”
Hippler ruled that Kohberger’s immediate family could attend the trial, even if they might be called to testify.
“Having considered the State’s response, the Court—exercising its discretion—finds good cause to excuse Defendant’s immediate family (i.e., parents and siblings) from the anticipated exclusion order,” Hippler wrote.
He said there would be little risk that what Kohberger’s family hears at trial would change what they say on the stand.