TV special on Idaho murder case to air, with Kohberger classmate interviews

A well-known true crime show plans to air a new special on the Bryan Kohberger case this week.

“Dateline” will show its “The Terrible Night on King Road” episode at 7 p.m. Mountain time Friday on NBC. 

The show said it plans to share what it labeled new details about the case, including discussion from former students and others about their interactions with Kohberger when he was at Washington State, and an interview with the mother of one of the victim’s best friends. 

“Former graduate student Holly tells ‘Dateline’ that after meeting Kohberger at a pool party and telling him about a hiking group she was a part of, they exchanged phone numbers,” NBC said in a news release. “The next day, she received a text from him about hiking with ‘peculiar’ wording, explaining: ‘It was almost overly formal.’”

Kohberger, 30, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the killing of four University of Idaho students at an off-campus home in Moscow in November 2022. He is also charged with one count of felony burglary. The victims were Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20, and Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21. 

At the time of the killings, Kohberger was studying criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University and had recently completed his first semester as a Ph.D. student. 

Kohberger’s capital murder trial is scheduled to begin this summer at the Ada County Courthouse in Boise, with jury selection beginning July 30. 

A judge ruled on whether his family may attend the trial in its entirety on Wednesday. A preview of the episode will air Thursday on NBC’s “Today” show.