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Idaho judge denies Bryan Kohberger's 'bushy eyebrows' motion

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Idaho judge denies Bryan Kohberger's 'bushy eyebrows' motion


In a series of orders announced Friday on motions from both sides in the murder case against Idaho student stabbings suspect Bryan Kohberger, the judge said there was no basis to grant a defense request that the lone eyewitness be blocked from mentioning the “bushy eyebrows” she saw on a masked intruder during the murders.

“D.M.’s testimony about ‘bushy eyebrows’ is highly relevant in this case,” Judge Steven Hippler wrote in his order, using the witness’s initials. “D.M. is the only eyewitness to the intruder responsible for the homicides. It is the jury’s task to determine whether Defendant is that person.”

Kohberger’s defense has argued both that he does not have “bushy eyebrows” and that DM’s memory of what she saw may have been influenced by being drunk at the time and a wall covered in artwork and photos showing portraits, faces and prominent eyebrows.

IDAHO MURDERS CASE: BRYAN KOHBERGER SELFIE USED BY PROSECUTORS TO CLAP BACK AT ‘BUSHY EYEBROW’ DENIAL

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Prosecutors allege Bryan Kohberger took this selfie at 10:31 a.m. Nov. 13, 2022, about six hours after the murders of four University of Idaho students he is accused of committing. (Ada County Court)

“While she could not provide enough details for a composite sketch, it is unsurprising given her observation that the intruder was wearing a mask on his face,” Hippler wrote. “Moreover, while this description might or might not implicate Defendant, it will not result in unfair prejudice.”

Hippler agreed with prosecutors that the debate over whether Kohberger has “bushy eyebrows” should be decided by the jury. The state has also submitted a selfie Kohberger allegedly took hours after the murders as evidence.

IDAHO JUDGE ISSUES ORDER ON KOHBERGER’S BID TO HAVE HIS FAMILY GUARANTEED COURTROOM SEATING

DM is one of two surviving roommates. She came within three feet of a masked intruder moments after the murders, according to court documents that only refer to her by her initials.

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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)

After Kohberger’s arrest, she told police she did not know him and had not seen him before. Prosecutors have alleged he was unknown to the victims before the crime and committed the murders using a large knife.

They also pointed to a 2020 college essay he wrote about handling a murder scene for a criminal justice class, arguing that he was well versed in crime scene procedures and the concept of transferring evidence and knew how to avoid it. 

WHAT WENT BRYAN KOHBERGER’S WAY — AND WHAT DIDN’T — AT EVIDENCE MOTIONS HEARING

DM 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. Recently unsealed text messages show she tried in vain to reach her murdered friends minutes after the intruder left.

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Bryan Kohberger arrives at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania in advance of an extradition hearing. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)

Hippler also denied a defense motion seeking to have prosecutors blocked from describing Kohberger’s car as the “suspect vehicle.”

A defense motion to block an expert from the Idaho State Crime Lab was denied in part and granted in part. The expert will be allowed to testify, but witnesses for both sides will be instructed not to use the terms “touch DNA,” “contact DNA” and “trace DNA.”

Hippler also partly granted the state’s motion regarding evidence of Kohberger’s autism and obsessive-compulsive disorder diagnoses.

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Four University of Idaho students were found dead Nov. 13, 2022. (Angela Palermo/Idaho Statesman/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

Expert testimony about Kohberger’s autism diagnosis would only be relevant if it was necessary to explain his mannerisms after taking the witness stand in his own defense, Hippler wrote.

“At that point, Defendant’s demeanor — which goes to his credibility — is relevant evidence a jury can consider, which the State concedes,” the judge wrote. “However, prior to presenting testimony on the matter, Defendant must raise the matter with the Court outside the presence of the jury to discuss the permissible scope.”

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He reserved the right to rule on Kohberger’s purported obsessive-compulsive disorder at a later date.

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Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and felony burglary in the stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

A judge entered not guilty pleas on his behalf. Prosecutors have notified the court they intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11.



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Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances

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Idaho resolution opposing same-sex marriage advances


For the second year in a row, House lawmakers will consider urging the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn its ruling legalizing same-sex marriage.

The nonbinding resolution, which carries no legal weight, says the decision in Obergefel v. Hodges violates the longstanding religious definition of marriage between one man and one woman.

“The current definition of marriage that allows for same-sex marriages is a defilement of the word marriage,” said Rep. Tony Wisniewski (R-Post Falls), who sponsors the measure.

The resolution further states that the Obergefel decision “arbitrarily and unjustly” rejects the historical definition of marriage.

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Idaho voters passed a constitution amendment in 2006 that defines marriage as between one man and one woman, which was invalidated by the Obergefel ruling.

Wisniewski said regulating marriages should be a power left to the states.

Rep. Brent Crane (R-Nampa) agrees.

“If you want to get things … closer to the people with respect to some of these more complex social issues, I think the best place for those things to happen is in the states,” Crane said.

Doing so is a risk, he said.

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“You may have states that choose to acknowledge [polyamorous relationships]. You may have states that choose to have relationships between adults and younger children,” Crane said.

Cities in neighboring Oregon and Washington, for example, are considering giving those in polyamorous relationships legal recognition.

But he said that risk is worth it to allow other states that choose to only recognize traditional marriages.

Four lawmakers on the House State Affairs Committee opposed the resolution.

Rep. Erin Bingham (R-Idaho Falls) said she’s tried to balance her own religious beliefs with those of others while considering the measure.

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“I do feel like that it is important for us to work together, to find ways to compromise and to live together in peace and mutual respect,” Bingham said.

The resolution now goes to the House floor for consideration.

House lawmakers last year passed a similar measure, but it never received a hearing in a Senate committee.

Copyright 2026 Boise State Public Radio

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University of Idaho professor awarded $10M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders

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University of Idaho professor awarded M after TikTok tarot influencer claimed she ‘ordered’ quadruple murders


A University of Idaho professor won a $10 million judgment after a tarot TikTok influencer publicly pushed false claims that she was behind the savage quadruple slayings of four college students.

A Boise jury in US District Court ordered fortune-telling Texas TikToker Ashley Guillard on Friday to pay $10 million after concluding she falsely accused professor Rebecca Scofield of having a secret romance with one of the four victims and orchestrating their killings, the Idaho Statesman reported.

Following the verdict, Scofield thanked the jury and said she hopes the case sends a clear warning that making “false statements online have consequences in the real world.”

Ashley Guillard posted TikTok videos falsely linking a University of Idaho professor to the Idaho college murders, leading to a defamation lawsuit. TikTok/ashleyisinthebookoflife4

“The murders of the four students on November 13, 2022, were the darkest chapter in our university’s history,” Scofield told Fox News.

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“Today’s decision shows that respect and care should always be granted to victims during these tragedies. I am hopeful that this difficult chapter in my life is over, and I can return to a more normal life with my family and the wonderful Moscow community.”

Scofield, the university’s history department chair, filed the lawsuit in December 2022 — just weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were brutally stabbed to death at an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.

Guillard began uploading videos to her more than 100,000 TikTok followers in late November 2022, accusing Scofield of a secret relationship with one of the students and claiming she had “ordered” the killings, garnering millions of views across the social media platform.

The complaint states that Scofield had never met the victims and was out of state when the murders occurred.

Idaho murder victims Madison Mogen, 21, top left, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, bottom left, Ethan Chapin, 20, center, and Xana Kernodle, 20, right, and their two surviving roommates.

Even after being served with cease-and-desist letters and after police publicly confirmed Scofield had no connection to the murders, the Houston-based tarot reader continued posting videos, the history professor’s legal team argued.

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Guillard doubled down on her accusations against Scofield after being sued, posting a defiant video saying, “I am not stopping,” and challenging why Scofield needed three lawyers to sue her “if she’s so innocent.”

The professor’s legal team argued the defamatory accusations painted her as a criminal and accused her of professional misconduct that could derail her career.

Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to the savage slayings in July 2025 in a plea deal that took the death penalty off the table. AP

Bryan Kohberger, then studying criminology at Washington State University, pleaded guilty in July 2025 to the quadruple murders in a deal that took the death penalty off the table. He is currently serving four consecutive life sentences in Idaho.

In June 2024, Chief US Magistrate Judge Raymond Patricco found Guillard’s statements legally defamatory, leaving damages to be decided by a jury.

During the damages trial, Scofield described the anguish of seeing her name tied to the murders online, the Idaho Statesman reported.

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The off-campus home where four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death on Nov. 17, 2022, in Moscow, Idaho. James Keivom

However, Guillard, acting as her own attorney, insisted her comments were simply beliefs based on tarot card readings.

She claimed to have psychic powers and testified that she relied on tarot cards to try to solve the shocking homicides that shook the rural college town and sparked global attention.

It took jurors less than two hours to return their verdict, the outlet reported.

The jury awarded Scofield $7.5 million in punitive damages in addition to $2.5 million in compensatory damages.

With Post wires

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Gas prices expected to exceed $3 as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages

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Gas prices expected to exceed  as the Iran conflict prompts supply shortages


BOISE, Idaho — AAA is warning Idaho gas consumers that pump prices will likely rise as the conflict in Iran disrupts oil and gas supply chains worldwide.

The ongoing turmoil in the Middle East will likely push the price for a gallon of regular gasoline past the $3 mark over the coming days.

“On one hand, the crude oil market had time to account for some financial risk in the Middle East as forces mobilized, but a supply shortage somewhere affects the global picture,” says AAA Idaho public affairs director Matthew Conde. “If tankers can’t move products through the region, there could be ripple effects.”

On Monday, March 2, the average price for a gallon of regular gasoline is $2.97, reports AAA, which is 12 cents more expensive than it was a month ago but 20 cents less than this time last year.

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State / Price: 1 gallon of regular gasoline

  • Washington / $4.37
  • Oregon / $3.92
  • Nevada / $3.70
  • Idaho / $2.97
  • Colorado / $2.89
  • Montana / $2.82
  • Utah / $2.74
  • Wyoming / $2.73

In terms of the most expensive fuel in the nation, Idaho currently ranks #14. However, buying a gallon of regular gas in neighboring states such as Oregon and Washington could cost a whole dollar more. In contrast, gas prices in Utah, Montana, and Wyoming are anywhere between 15 to 24 cents cheaper than fuel in the Gem State.





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