BOISE, Idaho — A decision over whether to delay the murder trial of Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the University of Idaho student homicides, was put on hold by the judge overseeing the high-profile case after a hearing Wednesday — just six weeks before jury selection is set to begin.

But it’s “likely” the 30-year-old defendant will be headed to trial on schedule later this summer, Steven Hippler, the judge presiding over the high-profile case, said at the close of a half-hour public hearing at the Ada County Courthouse.

“I fully encourage everyone to continue as if the trial is going to take place when it is scheduled for. Again, I reserve the right to write the decision that I come to,” he said. “But as of now, I would tell you that it’s likely you’re going to trial on the date indicated.”

Hippler, of Idaho’s 4th Judicial District, said he’d issue a written order on the defense’s request to put off Kohberger’s trial after the recent disclosure of previously unreleased case details in an episode of NBC’s “Dateline” — which was the result of likely violations of the court’s gag order. His attorneys also argued they didn’t have enough time to review all remaining evidence received through the legal process of discovery before mounting his defense.

Anne Taylor, lead attorney for the defense, said in court Wednesday that the request to push back the long-awaited trial was “necessary to protect” her client’s constitutional rights, adding that the defense’s motion “does not come as a surprise,” as they’ve dealt with difficulties throughout the years-long court process.

“We are not prepared to go to trial in this case,” she said. “The discovery is vast, and we have not had a chance to review it all.”

The persistent media coverage of the high-profile trial is another reason Taylor argued that a delay is appropriate. Specifically, she brought up the “’Dateline’ issue,” and said that leak of information “wasn’t just a one-time deal.”

“This court has a duty — a responsibility — to make sure that Mr. Kohberger receives a fair trial,” she said, “and a continuance may be the way that the court can best protect Mr. Kohberger.”

But prosecutor Josh Hurwit, former U.S. Attorney for Idaho, said a delay puts the state at the “whim of the media” and warned against a “ perpetual continuance.” The defense has had enough time to prepare and doesn’t need to learn everything about their client to present a fair case, Hurwit argued.

“A scorched-the-earth investigation is not what’s required,” Hurwit said. “The court should exercise its discretion to deny the motion” to delay the trial.

Kohberger, 30, is charged with fatally stabbing four U of I undergraduates in November 2022 at an off-campus home in Moscow. At the time, Kohberger lived about 10 miles west in Pullman, Washington, just over the Idaho state line, studying at Washington State University as a Ph.D. student of criminal justice and criminology.

The victims were seniors Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21; junior Xana Kernodle, 20; and freshman Ethan Chapin, 20. The three women lived in the Moscow home with two female roommates who went physically unharmed in the attack early on a Sunday morning. Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and stayed over for the night.

Closed hearing on ‘alternate perpetrator’ legal defense

Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and a count of felony burglary. His capital murder trial is scheduled to begin with jury selection in late July and to last into November.

If a jury finds Kohberger guilty at trial, prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty. His defense team has maintained its client’s innocence since Kohberger’s arrest in Pennsylvania in late December 2022 following a sprawling, seven-week homicide investigation that traversed multiple states and garnered federal involvement.

Also Wednesday, Hippler was holding a closed-door hearing on the defense’s effort to present evidence of an alternate perpetrator at trial. Kohberger’s attorneys said they came across a tip in their review of discovery, and have submitted proof of the person — or persons — as the real culprit, rather than Kohberger. Those legal briefs, and the prosecution’s objections to that trial defense, have all been filed under seal.

Hippler, who took over the case in September when it moved from Moscow six hours south to Boise, is expected to issue a written order on the issue at a later date. He previously questioned in court whether the defense had met a legal threshold for admissibility of the alternate suspect theory, rather than just allegations.

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