Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger file alibi defense in Idaho student homicide case

BOISE, Idaho — Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger met the Wednesday deadline to file their client’s alibi defense in the murder case against him in the deaths of four University of Idaho students in November 2022.

In a 10-page filing near the end of the day, Kohberger’s attorneys added extra details about their client’s whereabouts the early morning of the knife attack.

“Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,” the alibi defense filing reads. “He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park.”

The document, signed by Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s lead public defender, said the defense plans to call an expert witness in cell tower data to partially corroborate this alibi. The filing provided additional information surrounding Kohberger’s alibi defense previously filed by his defense last year.

Kohberger’s attorneys said in an August court filing that he was out on an overnight drive by himself, as had long been his habit, the morning of the students’ deaths.

Kohberger, 29, is accused of fatally stabbing the four U of I students at an off-campus house on King Road in Moscow. The victims were seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20.

At the time Kohberger was a graduate student of criminal justice and criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, about 9 miles west of Moscow over the state line. Police allege that he made at least 14 visits to the cell tower coverage area of the King Road house, including twice on the day of the four students’ deaths, according to the probable cause affidavit for Kohberger’s arrest.

After a nearly seven-week manhunt, Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in eastern Pennsylvania. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted by a jury.

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