Bryan Kohberger’s lawyers will not only ask an Iowa judge on Friday to stay the trial, but make prosecutors share crucial evidence pertaining to last year’s quadruple homicide.
According to Newsweek, Kohberger’s attorneys want prosecutors to provide documents involving genetic and genealogical testing, which includes information about samples from “unknown” men mentioned in their reports. The defense also wants all communication between lab staff and anyone else responsible for biological testing, in addition to data related to unexpected DNA results.
Kohberger’s legal team previously said their client was elsewhere when University of Iowa students Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, and Kaylee Goncalves were fatally stabbed at the women’s off-campus home on November 13, 2022. They also claimed he was driving alone at the time, which is something he often did.
Investigators tested DNA from a trash can outside Kohberger’s family home in Pennsylvania against DNA found on the sheath at the crime scene. Testing determined that “at least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect’s biological father,” Newsweek reported.
Kohberger is believed to have turned off his phone during the murders. However, police claim he visited the area 12 times before the slayings.
Kohberger was arrested after a cross-country trip with his father from Idaho to Pennsylvania. During their trip, Indiana police pulled over the pair twice.
The defense’s motion to stay could delay Kohberger’s trial past October. In July, the judge issued a 37-day stay in the trial, as the defense claimed there were fundamental failures in the grand jury selection process.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and burglary. Prosecutors filed court documents detailing their intent to pursue the death penalty as they deemed the four slayings were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.”
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast. Listen to the latest episode:
[Featured image: AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool]
