Bryan Kohberger, the suspect accused of murdering four University of Idaho students last year, was not at the house where the killings occurred, his defense attorneys intimated in court documents made public Tuesday.
Kohberger, 28, a former criminology student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in late December, weeks after the fatal stabbings of Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20, whose bodies were found by a roommate in the off-campus multistory rental house in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13.
“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,” Kohberger’s defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote in the two-page court document filed late Monday.
But the documents centered on Kohberger’s defense team meeting a Tuesday deadline to provide an alibi stopped short of stating where Kohberger exactly was at the time of the killings that caused panic, confusion, and anger in the small college town.
The filing is the latest episode in the case in which a judge in May formally entered a plea of not guilty on Kohberger’s behalf on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. The new filing also comes about a month after Latah County prosecutors say they plan to seek the death penalty against Kohberger, citing no mitigating circumstances preventing them from considering all penalties within the state, including capital punishment.
Bryan Kohberger intends to raise an alibi defense
Kohberger, who was indicted by a grand jury in May, is still set to appear for trial on Oct. 2. Kohberger’s attorneys have asked prosecutors to turn over more evidence about the DNA linking Kohberger to the murders as well as details about his grand jury indictment.
As a result, Latah County District Court Judge John Judge earlier this month granted a 37-day stay of Kohberger’s speedy trial deadline. Still, it did not apply to the stay did not apply to other aspects of the trial including Kohberger providing an alibi.
In Monday’s court filing, Taylor, Kohberger’s lawyer, alluded to a small part of the defense’s strategy and the additional time needed to prep.
“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,” Taylor wrote.
“It is anticipated this evidence may be offered by way of cross-examination of witnesses produced by the State as well as calling expert witnesses,” the document said.
A mystery, no leads, then a break:Timeline of the Idaho student murders investigation
Prosecutors claim Kohberger’s DNA is a match to Idaho students’ deaths
In June, court documents filed said that DNA from a swab of Kohberger’s cheek has been directly tied to the DNA on a knife sheath linked to the murders.
Investigators claim they tie Kohberger to the deaths with DNA samples and surveillance footage, cellphone tracking software, and trash from outside Kohberger’s family home in Pennsylvania, according to court documents.
A police search warrant revealed that Kohberger’s phone had been tracked near the students’ house at least 12 times in the six months before the attack. Kohberger was taken into custody on Dec. 29 in his parents’ home in northeastern Pennsylvania, about 2,500 miles from where the stabbings occurred.
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