Quadruple homicide suspect Bryan Kohberger has hired a forensic pathologist who worked on the OJ Simpson case to testify in his defense at the murder trial of four University of Idaho students.
Kohberger, 29, is accused of the brutal slayings of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in their off-campus house in November 2023.
Earlier this month, a judge scheduled his trial to start on July 30, 2025, after the state Supreme Court agreed to move it 300 miles from the small town of Moscow, Idaho, where the ruthless killing occurred, to the state capital of Boise.
Recent court filings show his defense team have brought on renowned forensics expert Dr. Barbara C. Wolf to testify remotely at a hearing scheduled for November 7.
Wolf is currently the medical examiner of Florida’s 5th and 24th districts, which include Citrus, Hernando, Lake, Marion, Seminole and Sumter counties. She has worked on several high-profile cases.
Bryan Kohberger (pictured) has hired a forensic pathologist who worked on the OJ Simpson case to testify in his defense
Kohberger, 29, is on trial for the November 2023 brutal slayings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 (all victims pictured)
Notably, she worked on OJ Simpson’s defense team while he was on trial for the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman in 1995.
At the time, Wolf worked as the director of anatomic pathology at Albany Medical College and examined at least one of the gloves from the infamous case, reported Albany Magic.
Her team criticized the doctor who conducted the autopsies and suggested the evidence points to a later time of death that aligned with Simpson’s alibi.
Simpson was cleared of charges after the high-profile trial that captivated the world.
According to her biography, Wolf was also involved in the 1991 exhumation of civil rights leader Medgar Evers.
In 1995, she was involved in the exhumation of the bodies of five children from one family in New York, who were presumed to have died of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome between 1965-1971.
Her role in the re-evaluation led to the conviction of the mother for the suffocation of the infants.
The state objected to Wolf’s testimony claiming it will not ‘help the trier of fact to understand the evidence or to determine a fact in issue,’ according to court filings.
However, on October 18, Administrative District Judge Steven Hippler granted the defense motion to have Wolf testify.
Kohberger’s defense attorneys argued to have the case moved to Boise due to the extensive media coverage and strong emotions in the university town. They argued this would make it difficult to find an impartial jury, as prosecutors seek the death penalty.
Forensics expert Dr Barbara C Wolf (pictured) will testify as a defense witness remotely
Wolf examined at least one of the gloves from the infamous OJ Simpson murder trial (pictured)
Prosecutors, though, claimed they could find impartial jurors in Moscow by bringing in a large pool to choose from. They also said the move inconveniences the family members of victims, attorneys, and witnesses.
They have said that Kohberger’s DNA was found on a Ka-Bar knife sheath found at the victim’s off-campus home, though no murder weapon has ever been found.
Officials also said that cell phone data and surveillance put Kohberger’s car at the crime scene, though the defense has disputed those claims.
Instead, the defense claimed Kohberger was miles away from the off-campus house where the students were murdered, and in an official alibi in May 2024, they claimed that Kohberger was ‘driving alone’ on the night of the murders ‘to look at the moon and stars.’
Kohberger, who has maintained his innocence since his arrest in December 2022, was granted permission to ditch his prison clothes and wear a suit and tie at a September court appearance.
