Idaho
Bryan Kohberger asks Idaho judge to block ‘bushy' brows evidence, suggests witness’s artwork skews memory
Bryan Kohberger’s defense team is asking the judge overseeing his quadruple murder trial to block an eyewitness from testifying about the intruder she saw having “bushy eyebrows” on the night three of her housemates and another friend were killed in a 4 a.m. massacre.
First, the defense argues that allowing the witness, identified in court filings as “DM,” would be unfair, too vague and unfairly prejudicial before the jury. Also in the motion, attorney Elisa Massoth denies that the defendant, Kohberger, has bushy eyebrows.
She is also seeking an order barring any evidence related to “bushy eyebrows” in addition to keeping DM from using the phrase. In separate filings, the defense is also asking the court to limit the use of the words murder, psychopath and sociopath.
The surviving housemate is the only known witness to have encountered the intruder and lived to tell her tale after she froze in shock, and he walked toward a back sliding door – and recently unsealed text messages so she tried in vain to reach her murdered friends minutes after the intruder left.
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Brian Kohberger pictured after his transfer to the Ada County jail in Boise, Idaho. (Ada County Sheriff’s Office)
The motion became public after Judge Steven Hippler told defense attorneys and prosecutors they were keeping too many court filings out of public view, filing them under seal without proper justification.
Massoth wrote that DM was unable to describe the masked intruder to a sketch artist and did not know what color eyebrows the intruder had. The texts, at least the exceprts that have been made public, show she discussed the intruder’s mask covering his mouth and forehead. They do not mention his eyebrows.
“Eyewitness identifications are inherently unreliable,” said Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based defense attorney who formerly represented Lori Vallow. “Especially this one – it’s beyond vague.”
IDAHO POLICE RECOVERED A 3-PERSON MIXTURE OF DNA UNDER MADDIE MOGEN’S FINGERNAILS
Madison Mogen, top left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
But what stands out to her in this case is the revelation in court filings that DM had a wall of photos and artwork, some of which she had drawn herself, depicting detailed faces and prominent eyebrows.
Last month, defense attorneys tried to attack the housemate’s credibility, arguing her story changed in the span of three interviews with investigators and that she admitted she had been drinking, felt tired and her memory was hazy.
“There is a beyond strong explanation, when somebody is so unsure about why they may have this distinctive impression of eyebrows – because it’s all over the room,” Elcox told Fox News Digital. “It’s artwork that they’re drawing.”
Read the motion
The defense argued that this artwork could have influenced her memory.
“There is no reliability of the physical characteristics that D.M. has reported,” Massoth wrote. “Mr. Kohberger does not have bushy eyebrows, but the art work on D.M.’s wall and that which she draws eyes with eyebrows could be described as bushy, full, or prominent.”
Hippler previously said the witness’s statements could be “fodder” for cross-examination at trial but had no bearing on the finding of probable cause used to justify Kohberger’s arrest.
Elcox says she expects explosive cross-examination on this issue.
Bryan Christopher Kohberger as he appeared on the Washington State University website. He was studying there for a Ph.D. in criminology at the time of the murders 10 miles away at the University of Idaho. (Washington State University)
“People often accused defense attorneys of just like throwing spaghetti at the wall and hoping something sticks, like questioning an identification,” she said. “But that is some real meat and potatoes, about how to how to question the reliability of whatever was observed. I can’t imagine a more specific fact.”
The new filing also reveals DM had “lucid dreams of being kidnapped or chased,” she was a consumer of true-crime TV and podcasts.
“I think the judge will allow it on the grounds that DM will be subject to cross-examination and that the unreliability of the identification goes to the weight that the jury will give the description, not the admissibility of it,” Elcox, who has been closely following the case, told Fox News Digital. “But … this identification can absolutely be destroyed on cross-examination.”
Judge Hippler previously said DM’s testimony appeared more useful in establishing a timeline of the slayings than identifying the attacker.
According to a probable cause affidavit, DM overheard someone saying, “There’s someone here” after 4 a.m. She later heard what sounded like crying, and a male voice saying, “It’s OK, I’m going to help you.”
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Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, June 27, 2023. (August Frank/Pool via Reuters)
A security camera at the home next door picked up “distorted audio” of what investigators believe were “voices or a whimper followed by a loud thud,” in addition to a dog’s barking at 4:17 a.m.
DM looked out her bedroom door and “saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her,” according to the affidavit. She described him to police as over 5 feet, 10 inches tall, athletic but not muscular and having bushy eyebrows.
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Bryan Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania after police arrested him at his parents’ house in Albrightsville in the quadruple homicide in Moscow, Idaho. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
They came face-to-face, and she froze in shock after he passed within three feet of her, according to the new filing.
Minutes later, she called three of the victims – Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20. No one answered. Then she reached out to the other surviving roommate, “BF.”
Although it was believed DM locked her bedroom door and went to sleep after this encounter, the new filing reveals that after a brief exchange of texts with her roommate, BF urged her to “run” downstairs.
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According to other court filings released this week, DM spent the night in BF’s room and an unnamed person called 911 from BF’s phone around noon the next day.
At 10:23 a.m., DM texted both Mogen and Goncalves. “Pls answer,” she wrote. “R u up??” She then called her father around 11:40 a.m., and finally someone called 911 from BF’s phone around noon.
Timeline of Nov. 13, 2022:
- 4:00 AM: Suspect arrives at house
- Between 4 and 4:17: Time of murders
- 4:19: Roommate calls 3 victims, no one answers
- 4:22 to 4:24: Surviving roommates text each other from inside house
- 4:27: Roommate calls victims again, no one answers
- 4:32: Roommate texts Goncalves ‘Pls answer’
- 10:23: Surviving roommate texts victims, no one answers
- 11:39: Roommate calls her father
- 12:00 PM.: 911 call placed from roommate’s phone
Court documents revealed last month that DM also said the intruder may have been carrying a vacuum-like object. She did not recognize him at the time of the attack and did not recognize an unmasked photo of Kohberger after his arrest.
Kohberger, 30, is accused of killing four of the six people inside a home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, around 4 a.m. Nov. 13, 2022. The fourth victim was Ethan Chapin, 20.
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Brian Kohberger in Latah County court for his Jan. 5, 2023, initial appearance in an Idaho courtroom. (Pool)
Police arrested Kohberger Dec. 30 of that year at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania.
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He faces a first-degree murder charge for each victim and a single felony burglary charge. A judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf to all charges.
The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11. He could face the death penalty if convicted.
PAYETTE — A Payette mom’s bond was revoked Tuesday after she was charged with suffocating her twin children earlier this month and is believed to pose a danger to the life of her newborn child.
The case, which has drawn national headlines, concerns Andrea Renee Shaw, a 23-year-old Payette mother who in May 2025 said her 18-month-old fraternal twins died the same day, after receiving routine childhood vaccinations. In January, Shaw joined as a plaintiff in a federal lawsuit filed by Children’s Health Defense, an anti-vaccine organization founded by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., with several other plaintiffs claiming vaccine injury or death.
Kennedy, who now serves as secretary of Health and Human Services, is no longer part of the group after taking on the cabinet position, as was reported by the Associated Press.
In Idaho, the twins’ deaths prompted a 14-month investigation by the Payette County Sheriff’s Department. On June 29, the investigation yielded a grand jury indictment of Shaw on two counts of first-degree murder by suffocation. If convicted, Shaw can be punished by up to life in prison or the death penalty, and the court would have the ability to order the penalties be served consecutively, or back to back.
Tuesday’s arraignment at the Payette County Courthouse was primarily attended by Shaw’s relatives and members of the media. Payette County Judge Kiley Stuchlik, who serves Idaho’s Third Judicial District, presided.
A key consideration for Stuchlik on Tuesday was a request from Joseph Filicetti, the legal counsel for Shaw, to have her bond reduced from $2 million to $100,000. Filicetti said this would allow for Shaw to care for a newborn girl, who, according to court documents, was born by caesarean section on June 25, four days prior to Shaw’s grand jury indictment.
State prosecutors objected to the motion for bond reduction, noting at hand was a potential death penalty case and asserting, unlike her husband, Shaw’s story repeatedly changed during questioning. Prosecuting Attorney Mike Duke said releasing Shaw would ultimately put the newborn’s safety at risk.
“That child is the most at risk. We do not think she should be allowed to be anywhere near any children, let alone her own children,” Duke said.
Stuchlik decided to revoke bond entirely, stating Shaw posed a “risk of safety” to the newborn child that was not known to Stuchlik or prosecutors when the $2 million bond was initially set.
Also for consideration Tuesday was a request to have grand jury transcripts of witness testimony provided to prosecutors and defense counsel to prepare their respective cases.
Idaho
Idaho is home to the nation's first DarkSky Reserve. Now it's home to the nations first DarkSky Certified Resort
IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) – A controversy is brewing as the City of Idaho Falls reviews its alcohol ordinance.
The goal is to consolidate four existing ordinances for beer, wine and liquor into a single law and ensure compliance with state code.
However, at its meeting last Thursday, the Idaho Falls City Council unanimously voted to remove the proposed ordinance from its agenda, in order to receive and consider additional public comment.
The proposed ordinance would:
1. Require commercial establishments selling, dispensing or permitting consumption of alcohol – including beer, wine or liquor – to have an alcohol license, alcohol catering permit or a charitable event permit.
2. Business events with 20 or less employees consuming alcohol at the business would be allowed.
3. Require alcohol servers to complete training every three years.
4. Individuals who violate the law could be charged with a misdemeanor.
Idaho Falls City Council President Jim Francis said the changes were the culmination of months of collaboration between law enforcement, business owners and city attorneys.
“We wanted to provide a safe environment – the primary point here – for public gatherings,” Francis said. “We recognize that certain antiquated elements of the current code are overly restrictive and needed to be addressed. We wanted to make the code more accessible to the public. We needed to address over-pouring issues. We wanted to reduce penalties where possible for violations, particularly the first offenses, and yet make the code clear enough to be enforceable consistently by law enforcement.”
But City Council Member John Radford said the changes represent an overreach by city government.
“I believe it’s a bad policy. What problem are we solving in the name of trying to solve a non-problem?” Radford said. “We’re becoming big brother around alcohol in your private property. I’m concerned that landlords will be at risk of being charged with a misdemeanor if they knowingly, which I made sure that was in there, because that is what we’ve been talking about, allowed people to drink in our business. We will be outside the norm of Idaho cities. This is a big step, and I don’t think the public has weighed in on this.”
At a City Council Work Session on June 1, Idaho Falls Chief of Police Bryce Johnson cited an increase in alcohol-related crime – particularly downtown – as a reason for the changes.
“DUI is there, but this would include sexual assaults, assaults, batteries, disturbances, urination, public vandalism, shooting – all sorts of crimes,” Johnson said.
But business owners are concerned about the potential impact on commercial enterprises.
“The ordinance doesn’t address the real problem – which is people drinking … at one event and then showing up in a bar or restaurant already hammered and causing problems anyway,” ” said Terri Ireland, representing the Idaho Falls Downtown Merchants Association. “The industry is really well-regulated by state and local laws already.”
The City of Idaho Falls began the process of updating its alcohol ordinance in January 2026, seeking input from community stakeholders.
Multiple community members spoke out about the ordinance.
For more in-depth information, you can read the full 39-page proposed alcohol ordinance here.
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