Kohberger is accused of killing University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin.
Defense and prosecuting attorneys revealed new details in the Bryan Kohberger murder case after filing some 30 motions, responses, and objections this week.
The pleadings were largely related to what evidence and testimony will be permitted during the trial, which starts on Aug. 11 in Ada County, Idaho.
Kohberger is accused of killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin, who were all University of Idaho students.
The four were found stabbed to death in an off-campus rental residence in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger was a PhD criminology student at Washington State University’s Pullman campus when he was arrested at his parent’s house in Pennsylvania on Dec 30, 2022.
Ada County Judge Steven Hippler will rule on the pretrial motions after a hearing scheduled for April 9.
Online Amazon History
One pre-trial motion filed by deputy prosecutor Ashley Jennings details the prosecutor’s plan to introduce evidence of Kohberger’s Amazon shopping history, which revealed he allegedly bought a military-style, fixed-blade Ka-Bar knife along with a sheath and sharpener. The purchases were made in March 2022, eight months before the killings.
“A Ka-Bar knife sheath with a USMC logo was found next to one of the victims at 1122 King Road,” Jennings wrote earlier this week in a March 17 court document. “The Defendant’s DNA was found on the Ka-Bar knife sheath found on scene. Applying the test for relevancy, first, Kohberger’s click activity which shows a purchase of a Ka-Bar knife and sheath before the homicides makes it more probable (than it would be without the evidence) that the KaBar sheath found at the crime scene was Bryan Kohberger’s.”
Defense attorneys argued against admitting the evidence while invoking Idaho Rule of Evidence (IRE) 403, which dictates that any evidence that’s unfair, confusing, misleading, would cause delay, waste time, or would be cumulative should be excluded.
‘Bushy Eyebrows’ and Kohberger’s Smiling Selfie
Prosecutors also indicate they will show the jury a witness description of the intruder having “bushy eyebrows” and a self-portrait Kohberger snapped of himself with his phone hours after the murders, in which he is smiling and gesturing with his thumb.
