The vast majority of those costs — about $1.4 million — related to an expansion of security throughout the Moscow campus and surrounding area. The total included $241,500 to cover charges for ISP to patrol the college community for six weeks immediately following the homicides and for room and board for its officers over that time. That money also is included in the total police cost for the case.

The U of I also paid nearly $780,000 to a pair of private security firms to help with a revised campus security plan and patrol the area, including the King Road house. The university spent another $393,000 to increase its own campus security, an expense report showed.

The Idaho Legislature appropriated $1 million in additional funds to the U of I to help defray the unexpected security costs. The remaining expenses were paid for through the university’s reserve funds, Walker said.

“This did not cover all our expenses but was certainly appreciated,” she told the Statesman.

Once police released the King Road property back to its owner, it was donated to the university. The school took ownership on Feb. 24, 2023, Walker said, which in turn placed the house’s ongoing 24/7 security costs on the university.

While neither prosecutors nor Kohberger’s defense took issue with the house being demolished once their investigations were finished, some of the four victims’ families wanted it to remain standing until after the trial. They raised concerns about jurors who may ask to visit for a more complete understanding of the attack or any possible evidence that may not have been found and still could be later.

With remediation work, including fencing to secure the King Road property and transfer of the title, plus the private security costs of several hundreds of dollars per day, the U of I spent about $346,000 on the house before it was torn down in late December. According to an invoice, the total included nearly $14,000 paid to Moscow-based Germer Construction to demolish the house.

“While the documented financial toll of dealing with a capital crime such as this is incredibly high, there are other costs as well, such as the emotional toll on our employees who worked countless hours to support students and keep our university as strong as possible through this tragedy,” U of I President Scott Green said in a statement to the Statesman. “While we know it most changed the lives of the families of the victims, it also touched and changed every employee and student at our university on that fateful day.”

Over the Idaho state line in Pullman, where Kohberger lived in graduate student housing at the time, Washington State did not track costs tied to the U of I student homicides, university spokesperson Phil Weiler said in an email to the Statesman. WSU campus police had limited expenses for overtime, including helping serve search warrants, he said, but no additional costs were logged from officers’ heightened presence around campus.

Court costs rise with death penalty cases

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