Bryan Kohberger, the doctoral candidate from Washington State University accused of the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students, was back in court on Friday, Your Content can report. The court proceedings lasted over five hours, centered mainly on the defense’s request to pause the trial.
For the second time, Kohberger’s defense team requested a stay in the proceedings, but Judge John Judge denied the request. The trial is set to proceed as originally planned, with the final pre-trial hearing scheduled for September 29 and jury selection beginning on September 25. The trial itself will commence on October 2.
The defense introduced testimonies from four expert witnesses in genetic genealogy, forensic law, and DNA during the hearing. Their goal was to convince the judge to mandate the prosecution to release all investigative evidence related to genetic genealogy, including any relevant correspondence. However, a decision on this crucial issue was not reached at the end of Friday’s hearing.
Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson assured that the prosecution has shared all intended discovery items with the defense. He noted one exception: a test that is still underway in the laboratory. Thompson stressed: “We have given them everything, we can’t produce something that doesn’t exist.”
Kohberger’s defense attorney Anne Taylor had submitted a filing in July hinting at potential flaws in the grand jury process. She suggested further probes to ensure the grand jury was convened properly.
In response to this, the prosecution accused the defense of deliberately stalling the litigation process and seeking to delay the indictment.
The prosecution has pinned the November 13, 2022, murders of Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves on Kohberger. They allege that Kohberger broke into an off-campus residence, leading to the tragic events. Critical to their case is the DNA evidence recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene. Court documents reveal this DNA exhibited a “statistical match” with a sample taken from Kohberger.
Contrarily, Kohberger’s defense team has questioned the reliability of this DNA evidence, emphasizing the absence of the victims’ DNA from Kohberger’s residence or vehicle. They continue to seek additional information regarding the genealogical analysis and have consistently expressed doubts about the prosecution’s evidence.
The prosecution maintains their stance, committing to disclose evidence as required by law.
As Your Content readers know, Kohberger alleges he was not present at the scene of the crime—1122 King Road—on the night of the murders.
“Mr. Kohberger has long had a habit of going for drives alone… He was out, driving during the late night and early morning hours of November 12-13, 2022.”
Though the defense had earlier motioned for the indictment to be dismissed, this was not discussed during Friday’s hearing.