Idaho College Murders: Bryan Kohberger's Bombshell Claim 'Irregularity' and 'Failure' Occurred with Grand Jury May Doom Trial
Aug. 15 2023, Published 12:02 p.m. ET
The defense team for Bryan Kohberger, the suspect accused of stabbing four college students to death in Idaho last fall, is making an attempt to get his indictment dismissed and avoid the death penalty — and a judge will decide his fate this week, according to authorities.
In court documents obtained by RadarOnline.com, Kohberger’s defense lawyer claims the grand jury that charged him with killing four University of Idaho students last year was “misled as to the standard of proof required for an indictment.”
Kohberger’s attorney, Anne C. Taylor, also accused Latah County prosecutors of botching the grand jury selection process by limiting the number of prospective jurors that heard the evidence, court documents stated.
Taylor said, “The number of potential jurors appearing for potential selection impacted the seating of the Grand Jury that heard the case; based upon review of the Grand Jury convening process apparent failure occurred.”
Taylor is seeking a halt in proceeding until the alleged blunder is investigated.
She added, “Further, other irregularity exists within the grand jury process and further investigation is necessary to determine the impact, if any, in the convening of this grand jury.”
These new bombshell allegations threaten to up-end the trial against Kohberger, 28, who was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University when police believe he broke into a home in Moscow, Idaho, and fatally stabbed four students — Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20 — in November 2022.
As Front Page Detectives previously reported, Kohberger’s defense team did not reveal where the suspect was at the time of the murders – but they insisted he was “at a location other than the King Road address” when the killings took place.
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Kohberger was arrested after his DNA was reportedly found on the sheath of the hunting knife used in the brutal murders, but his attorney is now questioning how investigators used the forensic technology to link her client, as Front Page Detectives previously reported.
The hearing scheduled for Aug. 17 will also address Taylor’s motion for investigators to hand over all documents related to the DNA probe, including all text messages, emails and documents exchanged between detectives and forensic scientists, court documents show.
RadarOnline.com reported that Taylor also wants investigators to provide “all reports generated by an lab that conducted (DNA) testing on any sample in this case, including from samples where ‘unknown’ males, not the defendant, were identified.”
Kohberger is currently behind bars without bail and is set to stand trial in October. If found guilty, he could potentially be sentenced to death.
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