Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger returns to court today for a motions hearing as his defense hopes to have a slew of evidence in the case blocked from his trial. The 30-year-old aspiring criminologist is accused of entering a six-bedroom home and killing four University of Idaho students in a 4 a.m. stabbing spree on Nov. 13, 2022. At least two of the victims were asleep at the start of the attack, according to authorities.
He allegedly turned off his cellphone before heading to the house and changed his license plates days after the murders, according to authorities. But they allege they found a key piece of evidence: his DNA on a Ka-Bar knife sheath left under the body of Madison Mogen, 21.
The other three victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Among the evidence Kohberger wants kept out of the trial are his Amazon shopping records, which allegedly show he purchased a Ka-Bar knife and sheath months before the murders and shopped for a replacement afterward; testimony from a surviving roommate who told police she saw an intruder with bushy eyebrows right after the attack; 911 audio; Kohberger’s 2020 college essay on handling a crime scene; a selfie photo showing the suspect posing with a thumbs-up in front of a shower; and National Weather Service data that could place a cloud over his alibi.
Kohberger is also asking the court to break precedent and take away the death penalty, arguing that he shouldn’t face it if convicted because he has autism.
On the other side, prosecutors are asking the court to block Kohberger from arguing that he was framed, and they want the defense to stop referring to the state’s intent to seek the death penalty as an attempt to kill him.
On Nov. 13, 2022, Kohberger was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington. It’s about 10 miles from the crime scene in Moscow, Idaho, where the victims were undergrad students at the University of Idaho.
Police had no solid leads for more than a month, until investigative genetic genealogy techniques used on DNA from the knife sheath gave them a tip: Kohberger’s name. On Dec. 30, 2022, Pennsylvania State Police arrested him at his parents’ house in Albrightsville, a grated community in the Pocono Mountains.
They took a cheek swab at the scene, and he has been held without bail ever since. A judge entered not-guilty pleas to charges of first-degree murder and burglary at his arraignment in May 2023. After successfully arguing for a change in venue, Kohberger will be tried in Boise with a start date scheduled for Aug. 11.
