Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in a brutal knife attack inside their college home, is now in a fight for his own life.
After more than two years of legal wranglings – including a change in location due to the high-profile nature of the case and a new judge taking over proceedings – the 30-year-old criminology student is finally due to go on trial this summer.
Kohberger is charged with the murders of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin back on November 13 2022. A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf in 2023.
In recent weeks, Kohberger’s defense has submitted troves of new filings with the court as the team makes repeated efforts to have damning evidence tossed from the trial and to have the death penalty taken off the table.
Through these documents – and those filed by the prosecution – new never-before-seen details about both that chilling night in the campus town of Moscow and the man accused of carrying out the heinous crime are coming to light.
Kohberger’s defense has revealed the Pennsylvania native has autism – and is citing this as a reason to strike the death penalty from the case.
His team has also fought, unsuccessfully, to have DNA evidence obtained using Investigative Genetic Genealogy – the technique made famous in the hunt for the Golden State Killer – thrown out.
It has also come to light that DNA evidence from three unknown individuals was found under Mogen’s fingernails, while blood from two unidentified men was also found at the crime scene.
And new harrowing details have emerged about the two surviving roommates’ accounts of that fateful night through the release of bombshell text messages and the transcript of the chaotic 911 call the following morning.
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for his arraignment hearing in Latah County District Court in May 2023. He is now in a fight for his life as his team calls for the death penalty to be taken off the table
Top defense attorney Duncan Levin spoke to DailyMail.com about the flurry of new developments in the case, revealing what it indicates about the defense’s trial strategy – and why he believes it’s unlikely to make any difference to Kohberger’s fate.
‘This is a rock crusher of a case,’ Levin, a prominent criminal defense attorney who has previously represented Harvey Weinstein and Anna Delvey and a former assistant district attorney in the Manhattan DA’s office, said.
‘He’s got nowhere to go. I think the jury is going to be in and out in an hour.’
As far as Levin is concerned, the defense’s bid to strike the death penalty based on Kohberger’s autism diagnosis is ‘a long shot.’
Though not unprecedented, he said it is an ‘unusual’ argument to make.
‘Often in death penalty cases, attorneys will argue that their client has a mental condition that impairs their culpability,’ he says.
‘But autism has not been widely accepted or commonly used in this context.’
In 2002, in the case of ‘Atkins v Virginia,’ the Supreme Court ruled that executing people with intellectual disabilities is unconstitutional as it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment.
Best friends Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen were found stabbed to death in the same bed
Ethan Chapin was staying the night at his girlfriend Xana Kernodle’s home when they were both killed
However, autism is not an intellectual disability.
According to Kohberger’s lead defense attorney Anne Taylor, his ‘autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death.’
Due to his autism, Kohberger has ‘little insight into his own behaviors and emotions,’ often rocks his body back and forth when listening, has ‘limited’ facial expressions and ‘his expressions are sometimes incongruent with what is happening around him,’ the newly-unsealed motion ‘to Strike the Death Penalty Re: Autism Spectrum Disorder’ argues.
‘A juror seeing the defendant engage in any one of these behaviors, while sitting at counsel table during a murder trial, would perceive the defendant as strange, out-of-control, and even disrespectful of such a solemn proceeding,’ the defense writes.
The filing claims that Kohberger’s autism is also hindering his ability to participate in his defense.
‘There are very few cases before where a defense has argued something like this,’ Levin said.
‘So, how effective it is, will depend on how well the defense can link autism to his culpability, his ability to understand right from wrong and his ability to control his behavior.’
Levin said it’s possible an autism diagnosis could be seen as a ‘mitigating factor’ during the penalty phase of the trial – but is unlikely to be ‘an automatic bar to execution.’
The student home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where the four students were found brutally murdered on November 13 2022
New harrowing details have emerged about the two surviving roommates’ accounts of that fateful night through the release of bombshell text messages and the transcript of the chaotic 911 call the following morning
‘The bottom line is that it’s really not a well-established argument,’ he added.
‘It’s a long shot.’
Judge Steven Hippler is yet to rule on the motion but denied a previous defense request to strike the death penalty from the case last fall.
This comes amid a shake-up of capital punishment in the state of Idaho. Last year, the firing squad became an alternative method of execution in the state, amid a shortage of lethal injection drugs. Now, a Republican state lawmaker is pushing to make it the primary method.
The family of 21-year-old Goncalves has publicly called for the death penalty and her father is now pushing for Kohberger to face the firing squad if convicted.
While Kohberger is awaiting a decision from the judge around the death penalty, he has already suffered a major blow to his defense after he failed to have critical DNA evidence tossed from the case.
One of the key pieces of evidence against Kohberger comes from a brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath found underneath Mogen’s lifeless body at the crime scene.
Touch DNA found on the sheath was traced to the 30-year-old suspect using Investigative Genetic Geneaology (IGG), according to prosecutors.
In a closed-door hearing in January, the quadruple homicide suspect’s attorneys tried to have the DNA evidence tossed from his trial by claiming the use of IGG had violated his constitutional rights and that the state neglected to document its use of the investigative method correctly in search warrants.
In February, the judge turned down the defense’s request, allowing the state to present this key evidence to the jury.
Just days after the ruling was handed down, the defense underwent a major shake-up, bringing on board attorney Bicka Barlow, who is known for specializing in forensic DNA evidence.
Levin said the judge’s decision to allow the DNA evidence could have major implications on the trial.
‘It’s significant because the DNA is such strong evidence,’ he explained.
‘It’s a very, very strong circumstantial case, but it’s still a circumstantial case. And the DNA evidence is a very important part of that circumstantial case.
‘So it was important for the defense to try to knock that out – as it does narrow down the field of potential suspects to the defendant himself.’
The defense’s strategy will be to attack each key piece of evidence against Kohberger in the hopes of creating reasonable doubt among jurors, Levin explained.
Between 4.22am and 4.24am on the morning of November 13, 2022, survivors Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke exchanged 17 frantic text messages fearing someone was in their house
Based on a string of recent filings, one of the defense’s other main lines of attack is expected to be the testimony of one of the surviving roommates Dylan Mortensen.
At the time of the murders, two other roommates – Mortensen and Bethany Funke – lived with Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle in the three-story house in Moscow.
They were inside the home at the time of the murders but escaped unscathed.
Mortensen, whose bedroom was on the second floor, came face-to-face with a masked man in the immediate aftermath of the murders, according to court documents.
She told investigators that she had been woken by noises in the home at around 4am that morning and had heard a voice say ‘there’s someone here.’
She also heard what sounded like whimpering coming from Kernodle’s room and a man’s voice saying: ‘It’s ok, I’m going to help you.’
Mortensen told investigators she had opened her door and peeked outside three times.
The third time, she said she saw a masked man with ‘bushy eyebrows’ and dressed in black walk past her door and head towards the sliding back doors of the home.
Bryan Kohberger in court in October 2023. He is now fighting to have the death penalty taken off the table
A newly-unsealed court filing has revealed for the first time that a terrified Mortensen then called and texted her slain roommates, desperately trying to find out what was going on.
Between 4.22am and 4.24am, Mortensen and Funke exchanged a series of frantic texts about her sighting of the masked man.
‘No one is answering,’ Mortensen texted Funke, before sending two unanswered texts to Goncalves.
‘I’m not kidding o [sic] am so freaked out,’ Mortensen said in another text.
In one of her replies, Funke told Mortensen to run downstairs to her bedroom on the first floor.
‘Come to my room’
‘Run’
‘Down here’
In a separate court filing, it was revealed that Mortensen did go down to Funke’s room and the two young women ultimately fell asleep.
Bryan Kohberger seen in police bodycam after being pulled over as he drove back to his parents’ home in Pennsylvania for the holidays. He was arrested at their home days later in December 2022
The following morning, starting at 10.23am, Mortensen then sent texts to the other roommates.
‘Pls answer,’ she texted Goncalves.
‘R u up,’ she texted Mogen.
And to Goncalves: ‘R u up??’
Mortensen then had a text exchange with her father and, at 11.50am, called a neighbor known as ‘EA,’ the documents show.
Minutes later, a 911 call was placed from Funke’s cellphone.
The distressing transcript of the 911 call was released for the first time, showing that the call was made after an individual known as ‘HJ’ had found Kernodle’s body inside the home.
In the call, the callers describe the 20-year-old as being passed out and not waking up.
The callers also mention Mortensen’s sighting of a man inside the home.
The defense is now asking the judge to block any evidence referencing ‘bushy eyebrows’ and to block Mortensen from using those words to identify Kohberger when she testifies at trial.
Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen. New court filings have revealed that DNA from three individuals was found under Mogen’s fingernails
Kohberger’s DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath (seen in a stock image) left behind at the scene
According to Kohberger’s defense, ‘the description provided by D.M. is unreliable and should be excluded’ from the courtroom.
In several filings, the defense has also sought to claim there are some inconsistencies in Mortensen’s account of what happened.
In police interviews, Mortensen told investigators she was ‘drunk,’ her memory was ‘hazy,’ that she was unsure what was a dream and what was reality, the filings state.
The defense points out that she told officers in two police interviews that she saw the suspect leave with a ‘vacuum-type object’ in his hand – but did not mention this detail during a third. In one interview, she allegedly said ‘she thought that the person she saw was a fireman.’
Following Kohberger’s arrest, Mortensen was also shown a photo of him and wasn’t able to identify him as the masked man she had seen inside the home.
The legal team also points to artwork seen on the student’s bedroom walls – many of which she had drawn – including ‘many pictures of eyes with prominent eyebrows.’
As the only known living eyewitness, Mortensen could be a key witness for the prosecution – and a key witness that the defense looks set to seek to discredit.
‘It’s clear that the defense is positioning her testimony as a key area of attack, likely because they recognize how crucial her account is in the prosecution’s case,’ Levin told DailyMail.com.
Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle together. The students’ murders sent shockwaves across the nation
‘Her role in the trial could become pivotal in determining whether the prosecution can make a solid connection between Kohberger and the crimes he’s accused of committing. This is especially important since her eyewitness testimony could serve as a cornerstone for the prosecution’s case.
He added: ‘It’s the roommate’s testimony that could ultimately be one of the most critical pieces in the puzzle. How both sides approach her testimony could shape the trajectory of the trial in significant ways.’
In a response to the defense’s request for a Franks Hearing in part based on Mortensen’s statements, Judge Hippler dismissed the suggestion that the eyewitness might not be credible and ruled that her statements were actually very consistent.
Levin said the defense has to try to discredit the surviving roommate because she is one of the star witnesses in the prosecution’s case.
‘I’m sure the defense will attack her but I don’t think it’s going to be successful. She was there and she saw what she saw,’ he said.
‘She remembers seeing a tall, white man with bushy eyebrows, which matches the description of the defendant.’
Levin pointed out that the defense’s strategy is ‘shooting at every single piece of evidence’ in the aim that something will stick.
But, even if the defense is successful in either throwing out some of the evidence before trial or undermining it in the courtroom, based on his expertise, Levin believes it still won’t change the outcome of the trial.
‘I think it would still be hard for there to be any conclusion that the murders were committed by anybody else,’ he said.
‘Everything matches with the defendant.’
He said: ‘The state has a very strong case so even if [for example, the DNA] was excluded, it wouldn’t be a victory [for the defense].’
Levin pointed to the other key pieces of evidence laid out in the affidavit by prosecutors.
‘While each thing on its own can be subject to attack, it’s the cumulative nature of the circumstantial evidence in this case that makes it so damning,’ he said.
‘Combining everything, it definitely all adds up.’
As well as the DNA evidence found on the knife sheath and Mortensen’s eyewitness account, Kohberger was also linked to the murders through cellphone data and through his white Hyundai Elantra.
Surveillance footage captured his vehicle traveling from his apartment just over the border in Pullman, Washington, to and from the student home around the time of the murders, according to the affidavit.
Cellphone data also placed Kohberger around the home at 1122 King Road 12 times in the lead-up to the murders – late at night or in the early hours of the morning.
It also placed him by the home at around 9am on the morning of November 13 – suggesting the suspect returned to the scene of the crime before the bloodbath was discovered.
The student home where the murders took place. Surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen came face-to-face with a masked intruder moments after the murders are believed to have taken place
Altogether, Levin said this makes for a ‘very strong case’ against the accused killer.
‘There’s an eyewitness inside the house that gave a description that matches the defendant. He leaves a knife sheath at the scene of the location, which has DNA on it that matches the defendant. His car is seen cruising by the location many times and his cellphone pinged at the location,’ he said.
‘It is just unfathomable that it could be anybody else. I think the state has an extraordinarily strong case.’
He added: ‘All the signs are pointing in the same direction… it’s a blinking arrow pointing in his direction.’
Despite the flurry of court filings, arguments and new revelations, as far as Levin is concerned, this is actually a ‘very straightforward case.’
‘This is not a whodunnit. It’s the opposite of a whodunnit.’
