BOISE, ID – Attorneys representing the 29-year-old man who allegedly killed four University of Idaho students nearly two years ago argued against the death penalty today during a hearing in Boise. Bryan Kohberger is facing four counts of First-Degree Murder and Burglary in the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Ethan Chapin on November 13, 2022, at a home near the U of I campus. He was a doctoral student at Washington State University at the time of the alleged crimes.
Public Defender Ann Taylor told Ada County Judge Steve Hippler that she doesn’t believe Idaho’s constitution allows for them to move forward and make Kohberger sit on death row for years and years “if the way Idaho is doing it right now isn’t really working.” She added that it is not a realistic option and that sitting on death row without knowledge of if or how he will be executed could induce anxiety.
Taylor also argued about Kohberger’s right to a speedy trial.
Defense attorneys filed multiple briefs in advance of today’s hearing, including the availability of lethal injection chemicals and the method of using a firing squad.
In Idaho, any person convicted of First-Degree Murder is eligible for the death penalty if the crime meets any of 11 aggravating factors. The prosecution has said there are four such factors in Kohberger’s case, which are “at the time the murder was committed, the defendant also committed another murder;” “the murder was especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity;” “by the murder, or circumstances surrounding its commission, the defendant exhibited utter disregard for human life;” and “the defendant, by his conduct, whether such conduct was before, during or after the commission of the murder at hand, has exhibited a propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.”
Jury selection for Kohberger’s trial is set to begin July 31, 2025, with the trial scheduled for August 7th. It is expected to last until early November.
