Idaho

Bryan Kohberger lawyer raises questions about Idaho murder roommate’s story

Published

12 months ago

January 23, 2025

Bryan Kohberger lawyer raises questions about Idaho murder roommate’s story

An attorney representing Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University Idaho students during a home invasion, questioned the credibility of one of two surviving roommates in court on Thursday, Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz reported.

Newsweek reached out for comment to the Latah County prosecutor’s office via email on Thursday night.

Why It Matters

Kohberger, 30, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. Prosecutors allege that he killed Idaho University students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin after breaking into their off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho in November 2022.

Judge John Judge, who presided over the case before retiring and being replaced by Judge Steven Hippler, entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf after the defendant refused to enter his own plea during a 2023 arraignment hearing.

Bryan Kohberger is pictured during a court hearing on the 2022 killing of four University of Idaho students in Moscow Idaho on October 26, 2023.

Kai Eiselein

What To Know

At a court hearing on Thursday, Kohberger’s lawyer, Anne Taylor, argued that the witness’ testimony could not be trusted because she has “memory problems” and was uncertain about whether or not she had been “dreaming” that she saw Kohberger at the residence just after he allegedly killed her four roommates.

“Eyewitness told police she was sure she heard one of the victims running down the stairs, diverging from the the [probable cause affidavit] narrative, Taylor says,” Ruiz wrote in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “That victim couldn’t have been on the stairs because she was killed in the upstairs bedroom.”

“She attacks the eyewitness’s credibility,” he added. “Says she admitted to memory problems, wasn’t sure if she was dreaming.”

Taylor also urged the judge to drop DNA evidence from the case during Thursday’s hearing, which was the first that Kohberger had attended in months. Taylor argued that admitting the evidence would violate her client’s privacy rights.

Idaho Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye, one of the prosecutors, pushed back on the argument and accused Kohberger and his team of being “wishy-washy” about DNA evidence, according to the Associated Press.

What People Are Saying

Taylor said in court on Thursday: “This is a situation where this identification was done in complete secret behind closed doors, and it’s been continued to be a secret, and that should raise red flags.”

Kohberger’s legal team said in a motion filed last month: “This is a capital murder case and nothing about it is clear cut.”

What Happens Next

Jury selection for Kohberger’s trial is expected to begin in late July, with the trial itself beginning on August 11. Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted on all charges.

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Idaho

Looking forward to another year of East Idaho Sports – East Idaho News

Published

11 hours ago

January 4, 2026

Press Room

Looking forward to another year of East Idaho Sports – East Idaho News

Note: As a bonus to our readers who have followed us into Year 2, the East Idaho Sports staff will post a special story on Sundays – Could be a column, opinion, feature, or just something fun and goofy. Hope you enjoy, and thanks again for coming along on this journey.

EASTERN IDAHO — Dec. 31 marked the end of the first full calendar year of East Idaho Sports. It has been a pleasure to bring our readers coverage of local youth, high school, college and semi-pro sports.

Over the last 12 months, we have covered state champions, national champions, junior hockey league champions, record-breaking performances and so much more. Those of you who have followed along since we launched in August 2024 have seen how we have expanded our coverage to include some interactive features like this Sunday Special series, Game Balls and the Photo of the Week voting.

We look forward to the completion of the winter sports seasons — including some Winter Olympics stories — spring sports, the summer sports schedule and returning next fall to start it all over again.

But we also hope to continue adding to our coverage, and shine spotlights on even more of the great athletes and sports programs in eastern Idaho.

In order to do that, we would like some help.

With just two full-time reporters and one freelance photographer we will regrettably miss things. And while we try to fill those gaps ourselves, we are always open to tips.

If there was a sporting event or sports story that deserved coverage it didn’t receive, please email us at sports@eastidahonews.com. If there is an upcoming event that should be spotlighted, please email us.

Also, our Photo of the Week stories will continue to be posted midday every Monday. If you have photos from a local sporting event that you want to enter in the running, email those to us by Sunday morning. For those who follow the voting — on our public Facebook group East Idaho News – Sports — a reader-contributed photo was recently selected our Photo of the YEAR, and we would love to continue adding those on the weekly ballot.

This photo of West Jefferson’s Justus Burtenshaw during the first round of the state tournament, taken by reader Julie Hall, was selected out East Idaho Sports Photo of the Year.

Finally, we recently added a regular feature we are calling the “Whip-around”: A quick rundown of local high school sports action. In order to expand these stories to include more teams, we would love for coaches, players or parents to send us photos of game scorebooks. If you are linked to a local team and would like your team to be added to these stories, please email us, and we can let you know how to do so.

It has been a pleasure to highlight the many local athletes for their successes and hard work, and we look forward to another year of precisely that.

We will see you at a field, court, course, pool, etc., near you in 2026.