Prosecution calls Bryan Kohberger's alibi in University of Idaho student murders 'inadequate'

MOSCOW, IDAHO: Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger asserted he had an alibi for the night four University of Idaho students were murdered in November 2022. However, the prosecution has challenged this claim, deeming the alibi legally insufficient.

Kohberger, 29, is accused of the murder of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, at an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, around 4 am on November 13, 2022. All victims were close friends and students at the University of Idaho.

Kohberger, a PhD criminology student at Washington State University residing in Pullman, Washington, approximately eight miles from the crime scene at the time of the slayings, has pleaded not guilty. 

Bryan Kohberger's alibi filing falls short of legal standards

In a Wednesday, April 17 court filing, Kohberger's public defender Anne C Taylor claimed "Mr Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars. He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park," reported People.

Responding to the filing, the prosecution argued that the alibi lacked the "specificity required" by Idaho law which states "that the defense 'shall state the specific place or places at which the defendant claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense and the names and addresses of the witnesses upon whom he intends to rely to establish such alibi.'"

Furthermore, the prosecution highlighted that Kohberger's alibi submission contained no new information apart from a mention of Wawawai Park, emphasizing that he failed to provide the necessary details as mandated by law. "The defendant is offering nothing new to his initial 'alibi' that he was simply driving around during the morning hours of November 13, 2022," the prosecution alleged.

Prosecution disputes significance of Bryan Kohberger's cell phone data as an alibi

In reply to the defense's assertion that Kohberger's cell phone data could demonstrate his absence from the crime scene at 1122 King Road during the murders, the prosecution argued, "This information does not rise to the level of an alibi at the time of the homicides because the Defendant's cell phone stopped reporting to the cellular network before the homicides and continued to not report until after the homicides."

"It has now been approximately 11 months since the State filed its 'Request for Discovery Disclosure; Alibi Demand' on May 23, 2023, and almost a year and a half since the homicides occurred. The defendant has been given more time than he is legally entitled in order to provide his alibi," they said.

The prosecution concluded their response by petitioning the court to reject "any further opportunity to add to any purported claim of alibi."

Investigations have previously linked Kohberger to the murders through DNA evidence found on a knife sheath left at the scene. Additionally, authorities discovered the suspect's cell phone pinging in the vicinity of the crime scene on multiple occasions preceding the killings, according to a probable cause affidavit.

If convicted, Kohberger could face the death penalty.