As Brian Kauberger sits in jail, accused of killing four Idaho College students, a judge considers his defense team's new argument that holding the trial in the same small town rocked to its core by the gruesome slangs is unfair to their client. Here's ABC's Ken Whitworth.

All rise. Thank you very much. Please be seated. A pivotal day in court for suspected quadruple murderer Brian Kauberger. So let's Do it on the record, please. Sitting quietly next to his attorneys in a Moscow, Idaho, courtroom.

The standard here is whether there's a reasonable likelihood that pretrial publicity has affected the impartiality of prospective jurors.

Kauberger's legal team trying to convince the judge to move his high-profile trial from the small town where the murders happened to Boisey, 300 miles away, claiming he cannot get a fair trial here, calling a parade of experts to the stand, armed with charts and graphs.

Bias can come from lots of things, one of which is an opinion that was formed.

A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf, and if convicted, he could face the death penalty.

A big part of the argument by the defense here is that any jury that could be selected may feel the pressure of trying to convict Brian Kauberger because they're from that community and they're seeking justice and closure for that community. Brian Kauberger is facing the the greatest punishment that the United States has, so the stakes are extremely high.

It's the latest development in the case of Brian Kauberger, the former criminology PhD student accused of brutally stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in their off-campus home in November of 2022. I understand it's a big case. They want to do everything by the book. So I feel like we're being patient. But as a consequence of that, we should be able to keep it here. Kauberger's attorneys claim there is a mob mentality within the community, pointing to their own survey of residents. One of them saying if Kauberger wasn't convicted, they'd burn the courthouse down. The family of Kaylee Gonsalves, always present, following updates on their daughter's murder case.

It's this It's one thing after another, after another, except for what needs to happen. It's just these fruitless motions and the delays. Now this change of venue hearing today, it's just like Very frustrating.

Prosecutors say DNA evidence, surveillance footage, and cell phone records link Kauberger to the murders that night. But the defense claims he was driving around alone, star-gazing in a remote park 40 minutes from Moscow. This is where Brian Kauberger's defense lawyer claim that he was on the night of the murders. And they say that claim is supported by cell phone data, including pictures depicting the night sky on several different occasions, including November. I spoke with Dave Mahan, the superintendent of a wide Park, who lives there year round. This is his first interview about the case. He says authorities haven't reached out to him to corroborate Coeberger's alibi. Do you see people out here in the winter months? Generally speaking, people don't come down here just to hang out. You said this is not the first time in your job out here that someone has used this park as an alibi in a homicide? I mean, look at where we're at. It's a remote Canyon out in the middle of nowhere, basically. It all began the night of November 12th, 2022. Kaylee Gonsalves and Madison Mogan, newly 21 and lifelong best friends, went to a popular campus bar around 10:00 PM.

This video appears to be the last time they were seen alive and in public, ordering from a downtown food truck, laughing and taking pictures at about 1:40 AM before turning in for the night. According to authorities, their roommate, Xana Kernadel, and her boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, both 20, were at a fraternity party earlier that same night, arriving home around 1:45 AM. Less than three hours later, in the early morning of November 13th, all four were stabbed to death in that off-campus home at the University of Idaho. Two other female roommates in the home at the time were unharmed. In an affidavit, one surviving roommate recalled being frozen, seeing a man in black clothes and a mask walk past her that she didn't recognize, describing him as 5'10 or taller and not very muscular, but athlet built with bushy eyebrows. With no immediate arrest, residents in the town were gripped with fear.

I'm like 50 yards away.

It was like, That's scary for me.

Weeks later, Kauberger was stopped by Indiana police while traveling with his father back to his family home in Pennsylvania for the holidays. How are you doing? How are you all doing today? Good, good. Take a look at your driver's lines real quick, if I could. Police in Idaho already searching for a white Hyundai Elantra, like the one Kauberger was driving. On December 30th, 2022, Kauberger was arrested in Pennsylvania after investigators said DNA evidence linked him to the murder scene. In the months since, the scars of this case continued to haunt Moscow. The victim's King Road home demolished by authorities in December of 2023. A trial, initially set for October second of 2023, was then pushed back when Kauberger waived his right to a speedy trial that August.

The judge will likely take in all of the evidence and make a decision in the coming weeks or maybe even months. If the judge does agree with the defense and moves the case to a different county, there could be a slight delay in ensuring that the defendant gets there an appropriate way and time, and that a new judge is assigned. It would likely be a matter of weeks, maybe a month or two, not something that would drastically change when this trial starts.

The trial now set to begin next June and last through August of 2025. For the Gonsalves family, justice can't come soon enough.

We're forgetting about the victims, and unfortunately, we've never wanted to victimize ourselves, but we're victims as well because we are Kaylee's family, and my children are, and we have to be her voice.