A flurry of court documents filed this week in the case of Bryan Kohberger, the man charged in the killings of four University of Idaho students in late 2022, offers new details about how the case against him is shaping up.
Kohberger, 30, is accused in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho. Autopsies showed the four were all likely asleep when they were attacked, some had defensive wounds and each was stabbed multiple times.
Kohberger, then a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania weeks after the killings. Investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene.
Here’s what to know about the case and the recent developments as his trial is set to begin this summer.
Kohberger has been charged with four counts of murder in the Nov. 13, 2022 stabbing. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted.
When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent, prompting the judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
The killings shook the small farming community of about 25,000 people, which hadn’t had a homicide in about five years. The trial was moved from rural northern Idaho to Boise after the defense expressed concerns that Kohberger couldn’t get a fair trial in the county where the killings occurred.
The newly filed documents include pretrial motions that will shape what evidence and expert testimony will be allowed at Kohberger’s trial, which is set to begin Aug. 11 and expected to last more than three months.
They show that prosecutors intend to introduce evidence of Kohberger’s “click history” at Amazon.com showing he purchased a Ka-Bar knife — a military-style, fixed-blade knife — along with a sheath and sharpener in March, eight months before the killings. A Ka-Bar knife was found next to one of the victims.
Further, prosecutors say, the Amazon click history also shows Kohberger searched for a Ka-Bar knife in the days after the killings.
“Kohberger’s click activity after the homicides makes it more probable (than it would be without the evidence) that Kohberger had a reason to search for a Ka-Bar knife and sheath after the homicides,” prosecutors wrote.
Kohberger’s attorneys have sought to exclude the online shopping history, saying it could be taken out of context or not reflect the influence of algorithms that recommend purchases.
Prosecutors say they also intend to introduce what appears to be a self-portrait Kohberger took on his phone at 10:31 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022 — just hours after the killings. In it, he is smiling and giving a thumbs-up gesture.
A roommate who was in the rental home, sleeping and intoxicated, told police she woke up and saw a man she didn’t know — someone with “bushy eyebrows” who was wearing a face mask. Defense attorneys have asked the judge to exclude from the trial any description of the attacker having bushy eyebrows, saying that could prejudice the jury.
“If evidence of ‘bushy eyebrows’ is presented to the jury, the jury might well believe that Mr. Kohberger is guilty simply because of ‘bushy eyebrows,’” defense attorneys wrote.
But prosecutors say the roommate’s description is credible, and they want to introduce Kohberger’s selfie because it shows his appearance shortly after the killings. “Whether or not Bryan Kohberger can be described as having ‘bushy eyebrows’ is a factual determination to be decided by the jury,” they wrote.
Judge Steven Hippler has scheduled a hearing for April 9 to consider the pretrial motions. Among those to be decided are arguments over whether an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis would preclude Kohberger from being eligible for the death penalty if convicted, and over whether jurors should hear audio of a 911 call made by two women in the house roughly eight hours after the killings, as they realized one of their roommates wasn’t waking up.
The court has issued a gag order for everyone involved in the trial and won’t allow cameras in the courtroom.
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