Judge in University of Idaho killings open to special investigation of gag order violations

Nicole Blanchard and Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman on May 15, 2025

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BOISE, Idaho — The judge in the quadruple homicide case involving four University of Idaho students opened the door Thursday to appointing a special prosecutor to investigate potential violations of the court’s standing gag order less than a week after NBC’s “Dateline” revealed in an episode previously unreleased details about the investigation.

Judge Steven Hippler, of Idaho’s 4th Judicial District, told the court that he would quickly enter an order that required the prosecution and defense in Bryan Kohberger’s murder trial to retain all records related to possible violations of the nondissemination order that has been in place in the case since January 2023.

Hippler also referenced a closed-door session held before Thursday’s court hearing, which began a half-hour after its scheduled start time. The hearing will continue in a closed-door session Thursday afternoon.

Hippler told the prosecutors that he would be “open to a request for an appointment of a special prosecutor,” who could then request a magistrate judge grant subpoena power to question witnesses under oath, and also to grant immunity.

Hippler did not directly mention the “Dateline” episode or any specific gag order violation during the hearing. He did, however, make reference to the air date of the episode earlier in the pretrial hearing as both sides discussed jury selection.

The judge said he intended to use six alternate jurors prior to the episode’s air date, but “after Friday” would now add two more — for a total of eight, along with 12 jurors. It’s unclear what influenced the judge’s decision.

“Dateline” did not immediately return an emailed request for comment from the Idaho Statesman after Thursday’s hearing. Neither did Howard Blum, an author and special contributor to NBC, who has written a book about the case and appeared prominently in the recent episode.

Kohberger, 30, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the November 2022 stabbing deaths of the four students at a home near the Moscow campus. At the time, he was a Ph.D. student in the criminal justice and criminology department at Washington State University in nearby Pullman.

A Latah County court gag order, or nondissemination order, has been in place in the case since January 2023. It “prohibits any communication by investigators, law enforcement personnel, attorneys, and agents of the prosecuting attorney or defense attorney concerning this case,” according to a Moscow Police Department news release at the time.

Hippler has left the gag order in place since the high-profile murder case was moved from Moscow to Boise late last year.

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