University of Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger is set to reveal new information on a possible alibi next month, while a trial date is still unknown.
In February, prosecutors in the case requested more information from Kohberger's legal team on a possible alibi over the murders, which left four college students dead in November 2022. Judge John Judge, overseeing the case, set a deadline of April 17 for Kohberger's legal team to provide documents relating to an alibi.
Kohberger, 29, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in connection with the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four University of Idaho students were found dead in their off-campus home on November 13, 2022.
In December 2022, Kohberger was arrested at his parents' residence in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. He was attending Washington State University as a graduate student.
Kohberger has continued to maintain his innocence in the case, previously standing silent during his arraignment. The judge entered not-guilty pleas for each of the charges against Kohberger in response.
Last month, prosecutors and Kohberger's defense failed to reach an agreement on a start date for a trial, prompting anger from the families of Goncalves and Kernodle.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson had requested the trial begin on March 3, 2025, while Kohberger's attorney, Anne Taylor, asked for more time to review evidence and information, requesting that the trial not begin until June 2025.
Amid the disagreements, Judge Judge agreed not to set a trial date yet and instead set another court appearance for May 14 to decide on whether the trial should be moved out of Latah County.
"A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County owing to the extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity, allegations made about Mr. Kohberger to the public by media that will be inadmissible at his trial, the small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges Mr. Kohberger faces," Kohberger's attorney said in a filing in January, seeking to have the trial moved elsewhere.
In addition to wanting the trial moved out of Latah County, Kohberger's defense has also sought to have a grand jury indictment thrown away, claiming that jurors were biased.
However, Judge Judge denied these requests, prompting Taylor to appeal to the Idaho Supreme Court. Last week, a pretrial appeal in the Idaho Supreme Court to have the grand jury indictment dismissed was also denied.
Last year, Kohberger's attorney provided some brief information about a possible alibi defense saying "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."
As Taylor has sought to have a trial date pushed to a later date, she mentioned that the defense expects to have 400 witnesses and a wide array of evidence to show.
The April 17 hearing will focus on Kohberger's possible alibi defense and will not set a trial date. The hearing in May will allow Judge Judge to decide if the trial should be moved out of Latah County and an official trial date should be expected following that hearing.
Newsweek reached out to Taylor's office via email for comment.
Uncommon Knowledge
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
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Matthew Impelli is a Newsweek staff writer based in New York. His focus is reporting social issues and crime. In ... Read more
