Accused University of Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger appeared in court on Thursday for a pretrial hearing which also included testimony from a police detective who worked on the case.
The Independent reported that Kohberger’s attorneys were calling on a witness as part of their motion to compel prosecutors to turn over evidence — including dashcam footage of a search warrant being executed at Kohberger’s Pennsylvania home and lab results.
Moscow police detective Lawrence Mowery, who investigated the 2022 homicides, testified regarding cell phone data in this case. Kohberger has claimed he was out driving alone when the four students were killed in their off-campus Moscow home.
READ: Kohberger Lawyer Accuses Prosecution of Withholding Evidence
In October, trial Judge John Judge denied two of Kohberger’s requests to have the grand jury indictment dismissed. In March, the state Supreme Court denied Kohberger’s bid to review the lower court’s ruling — meaning the ruling was upheld.
On multiple instances, defense attorneys have sought to have Kohberger’s indictment dismissed — claiming the grand jury used the wrong standard of proof because they were given incorrect instructions, and the grand jury was biased because prosecutors withheld evidence that would have supported Kohberger’s case.
In January, Kohberger’s attorneys also requested that court proceedings be moved out of Latah County — claiming the case has garnered “extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity” which would make it impossible for their client to have a fair trial there. They also asserted that selecting an impartial jury in Latah County would be impossible for the same reasons.
Kohberger’s attorneys have claimed Kohberger was not at the crime scene and was driving around alone the night Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, Ethan Chapin, and Kaylee Goncalves were fatally stabbed at the women’s off-campus home on November 13, 2022.
However, police claim he visited the area 12 times before the slayings and that he turned off his phone on the night in question.
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.”
At the time of the slayings, Kohberger was obtaining his Ph.D. in criminology from Washington State University, which is located 10 miles from the crime scene.
Prosecutors filed court documents detailing their intent to pursue the death penalty as they deemed the slayings were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel.” A trial date has not been set.
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[Feature Photo: Kai Eiselein/New York Post via AP, Pool]
