Trial date set for Moscow murder victims’ lawsuit

A federal court has set a trial date for the families of the 2022 Moscow murder victims suing Washington State University over the school’s handling of convicted killer and former student Bryan Kohberger.

The trial will take place Sept. 13, 2027, in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington.

The families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle are part of a suit seeking damages from WSU, the school Kohberger attended when he murdered the four University of Idaho students Nov. 13, 2022, in their Moscow home.

According to Feb. 11 court documents, the plaintiffs claim WSU quickly learned of Kohberger’s “threatening, stalking, and predatory behavior” when he came to the university. They also claim the murders were “foreseeable to WSU” and that they failed to control him through their policies.

WSU denies the allegations.

The Idaho Statesman reported in November that the Goncalves family said the lawsuit aimed to seek transparency and accountability from WSU.

Kohberger was convicted of the murders in July 2025 and ordered to serve four life sentences.

According to previous Moscow-Pullman Daily News reporting, public records released after Kohberger’s conviction show what his WSU colleagues and classmates thought about him during his time at the university.

The people who interacted with Kohberger described his unsettling behavior toward women.

They called him rude, belittling, condescending and unprofessional. He was known for staring at women in a way that made them uncomfortable. Kohberger was also known for standing in doorways or blocking their path when he wanted to talk to them.

He had a reputation of being “very homophobic,” one document says, and also of being rude to students with disabilities.

Kohberger allegedly wanted to become a professor, and one faculty member allegedly told her colleagues that she feared he would harass or stalk his students if that happened. Some feared he was already stalking a staff member when he allegedly followed her to her car.

The documents include statements saying people complained about his behavior and that a report about his behavior was filed with the WSU Office of Civil Rights. There was a debate among staff about pulling Kohberger’s funding.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.