The defense attorneys of Bryan Kohberger, the 28-year-old accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students last fall, are suggesting their client was nowhere near the off-campus house where the murders took place.
The victims are 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen and 20-year-old Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, all of whom were killed in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.
Per The New York Times, police arrested Kohberger after the case remained unsolved for more than six weeks. Authorities say their supporting evidence includes a leather knife sheath that was left in one of the bedrooms where the murders took place. A police corporal for the city of Moscow, Idaho, said in an affidavit that DNA found on the sheath compared with DNA taken from Kohberger’s parents’ home indicated the sheath could be his.
Investigators also used cellphone records and surveillance footage of a white car that eyewitnesses identified as a Hyundai Elantra to build their case against Kohberger.
According to the affidavit, police at the nearby Washington State University checked their records for a white Elantra. They found one registered to Kohberger, who was attending the university to get his Ph.D. in criminology. Investigators argue that Kohberger’s physical features match the description of the attacker given by one of the surviving housemates — despite that the survivor only saw the man briefly and said he was clothed in black and wearing a mask.
Finally, investigators say Kohberg’s phone was in the area of the house 12 times in the months before the murders. On the night in question, his phone stopped connecting to the Washington State campus cellular network at 2:45 a.m., when police believe he shut off his device to obscure his location.
The prosecution’s case is still a bit light, considering they don’t have the actual murder weapon or any kind of motive to shed more light on the crime. Still, prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
What is Kohberger’s defense?
Per CNN, Kohberger’s trial is set for October, and a “not guilty” plea has been entered on his behalf.
In a new court filing, defense lawyer Anne Taylor wrote:
“Evidence corroborating Mr. Kohberger being at a location other than the King Road address will be disclosed pursuant to discovery and evidentiary rules as well as statutory requirements… A defendant’s denial of the charges against him does not constitute an alibi, but as soon as he offers evidence that he was at some place other than where the crime of which he is charged was committed, he is raising the alibi defense.”
Basically, Kohberger’s lawyers are saying he wasn’t there that night, and they have the receipts.
An earlier filing from defense attorneys in June also rejects the supposed DNA evidence on the sheath, stating:
“What the State’s argument asks this Court and Mr. Kohberger to assume is that the DNA on the sheath was placed there by Mr. Kohberger, and not someone else during an investigation that spans hundreds of members of law enforcement and apparently at least one lab the State refuses to name.”
Prosecutors responded to that statement with their own:
“lf the Defendant wishes to explore the theory that his DNA was planted on the … knife sheath, he is free to do so”
Hopefully, we can avoid the passive-aggressive remarks and get down to the facts when Kohberger’s trial commences this fall.