Bryan Kohberger, the former criminology graduate student accused of the November 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, is scheduled to appear in court on Thursday in what could be his final pretrial hearing before his highly anticipated trial commences.
Kohberger, 30, faces four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the deaths of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, who were fatally stabbed at an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, during the late hours of November 13, 2022.
Kohberger was apprehended in connection with the killings over a month later at his family home in Pennsylvania. A plea of not guilty was entered on his behalf in May 2023.
Jury selection is slated to begin in late July, with the trial itself scheduled to start on August 11. If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty.
This gruesome case has captivated public attention and has already been the subject of numerous true crime documentaries. Despite this, prosecutors have not yet publicly revealed a potential motive, and a comprehensive gag order has prevented involved parties from speaking publicly, making each pretrial hearing a focal point for public interest in obtaining further details.
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Recent pretrial hearings have addressed the admissibility of key pieces of evidence, including Kohberger’s autism diagnosis, DNA analysis, his Amazon purchase history, and a witness’s description of the suspect’s “bushy eyebrows.”
Notably, the defense had sought permission to inform the jury that Kohberger has autism spectrum disorder – a condition they argue would explain behaviors that might be perceived as unusual while he is present at the defense table. However, Judge Steven Hippler denied this request, stating that it was not relevant unless Kohberger testifies. Kohberger’s legal team has repeatedly indicated that it is unlikely he will take the stand in his own defense due to his diagnosis.
In another ruling, the judge stated that prosecutors are permitted to call an expert witness to testify regarding Amazon data, which they claim reveals Kohberger purchased a knife, sheath, and sharpener from the same company that manufactured a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
Kohberger’s legal team has previously stated its intention to present evidence of alternative suspects prior to the trial. Judge Hippler set a May deadline for the defense to submit this evidence, reasoning that waiting for it to emerge during the trial would be too late. As of the current time, the defense has not filed any such evidence with the court.
At this juncture, Kohberger will not be allowed to present an alibi defense because no individual can corroborate his whereabouts during the time the murders occurred. During an April hearing, Judge Hippler instructed the defense that if any evidence supporting an alibi were to surface, it should be immediately disclosed to the court, at which point the timeliness of the evidence would be evaluated.
The possibility of the death penalty looms over the case. If convicted of capital murder, Kohberger would then proceed to a penalty phase, during which the jury would consider additional evidence and determine whether he should be sentenced to death or a lesser punishment, such as life in prison.
How We Got Here
Victims Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen. (Obtained by CNN)
The murders of four University of Idaho students in an off-campus residence in Moscow in November 2022 were both brutal and perplexing.
The group of friends had spent an evening out in the college town and returned to their shared home late. The following day, police discovered the four students had been brutally stabbed to death inside the residence, with no signs of forced entry or damage.
These violent stabbings shocked Moscow, a city of 25,000 residents that had not recorded a homicide since 2015. The killings prompted weeks of intense investigation by law enforcement, led to frustration from the victims’ families regarding the pace of the police work, and instilled fear within the local community about a potential mass killer at large.
On December 30, investigators arrested Kohberger – a graduate student residing in nearby Pullman, Washington – at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania. According to court documents, investigators had linked him to a white vehicle observed near the scene of the murders, DNA recovered from a tan leather knife sheath found near Mogen’s body, and his cell phone location data in the vicinity of the residence.
Since then, the progression of the case has been slowed by a series of pretrial motions and hearings concerning the death penalty, a gag order, the use of investigative genetic genealogy, and Kohberger’s proposed alibi.
The case is likely to hinge on DNA evidence obtained from a knife sheath, beneath a victim’s fingernails, and in bloodstains.
The prosecution’s most significant piece of evidence is a DNA sample taken from a knife sheath discovered at the crime scene. According to prosecutors, investigators subsequently employed investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) – a forensic technique combining DNA analysis with genealogical research – to connect that sample to Kohberger’s family. Subsequent DNA testing determined that Kohberger was a “statistical match” to the sample, which led to his arrest, according to the prosecution.
To challenge this evidence, his defense team has repeatedly questioned the methodology, legality, and accuracy of the DNA testing conducted at each stage of the process.
“The DNA could make or break the case, and it’s all about what the jury finds to be credible,” Misty Marris, an attorney closely following the case, told CNN in March.
