New court filings in the case of Bryan Kohberger, charged in the killings of four University of Idaho students in 2022, offer new details about how the case 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 in Moscow, Id. Autopsies showed the four were likely asleep when they were attacked. Kohberger, a criminal justice graduate student at Washington State University, was arrested in Pennsylvania after the killings. Investigators said they matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene, reports the Associated Press. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted. Pretrial motions will shape what evidence and expert testimony will be allowed at Kohberger’s trial, which is set to begin Aug. 11.
Prosecutors intend to introduce Kohberger’s “click history” at Amazon.com showing he purchased a Ka-Bar military-style, fixed-blade knife along with a sheath and sharpener eight months before the killings. A Ka-Bar knife sheath was found next to one victim. Prosecutors 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 — 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 with “bushy eyebrows” who was wearing a face mask. Defense attorneys have asked to exclude from the trial a description of the attacker having bushy eyebrows, saying "the jury might well believe that Mr. Kohberger is guilty simply because of ‘bushy eyebrows.’” 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 scheduled a hearing for April 9 to consider the pretrial motions. In one, the defense says an autism spectrum disorder diagnosis precludes Kohberger from being eligible for the death penalty.
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