Idaho prosecutors have dismissed a wave of claims The Motions of Bryan Kohberger to attack search warrants executed in connection with his arrest in the murders of four students, parsing the defense’s claims and telling the judge there was “substantial probable cause” to remove evidence from his parents’ home, his car, his devices and other places to be seized.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson wrote in part of nine objections to Kohberger’s defense efforts that the arrest warrants in question were “based on substantial probable cause.” Much of the details remain secret, but prosecutors are asking the judge to deny the defense’s motions and keep the arrest warrants in effect.
Last month, the defense asked Judge Steven Hippler to suppress DNA evidence, searches on Kohberger’s devices and digital accounts, his car, his person and his parents’ home.
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Bryan Kohberger, right, is escorted into a courtroom to appear during a hearing in Latah County District Court on September 13, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren)
Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and burglary in connection with the early morning massacre of four University of Idaho students around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022.
Prosecutors allege he snuck into a home near the University of Idaho campus — while some of them were sleeping — and killed them with a large knife. A surviving roommate told investigators she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” after overhearing crying and sounds of a struggle.
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The victims were Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, their roommate Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, also 20.
Madison Mogen, above left, smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other roommates in Goncalves’ latest Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
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Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested weeks later at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains.
Police found a Ka-Bar knife sheath under Mogen’s body that prosecutors said contained Kohberger’s DNA. Kohberger was driving a white Hyundai Elantra, the same type of car identified as the suspect vehicle, and allegedly turned off his phone before going to and from the crime scene, the affidavit said. Police also claimed, based on phone records, that he had stalked the victims’ homes 10 times before the murders and drove by again hours later.
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A judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf at his arraignment in May 2023.
The prosecutor’s objection to the suspect’s request for suppress
The defense team, led by Anne Taylor, Jay Logsdon and Elisa Massoth, is seeking a Franks hearing, where they hope the arrest warrants will be thrown out. They previously told the court that they are ‘firmly’ convinced that their client is innocent.
Such hearings are rarely granted and even more rarely successful, experts tell Fox News Digital.
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“I’ve been practicing law for 52 years now and have tried, actually taken to trial, to get a verdict in over 300 cases, and I think in my entire career judges have allowed Frank’s hearings three times,” said John Henry Browne . , the Seattle-based attorney whose past clients include serial killer Ted Bundy. “I think two of them went nowhere. And the third one did result in the judge ultimately dismissing the charges. But these hearings can be very productive. They can be very helpful to the defense from a discovery standpoint.” “
Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger, Anne Taylor, left, Elisa Massoth and Jay Logsdon arrive at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho, on June 27, 2023. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
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If Kohberger can prove that investigators deliberately ignored or misrepresented the truth in their affidavits, that information could be thrown out of the arrest warrants, he told Fox News Digital. On the other hand, however, even if that long attempt is successful, the judge will weigh whether sufficient probable cause remains in the order and may determine that it is still valid.
Hippler previously told Kohberger’s team to resubmit the request for a Franks hearing, telling his lawyers it was unacceptable to send him 2,000 pages of exhibits without indicating which parts were relevant to their arguments.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson speaks with Wendy Olson (left) and Cory Carone during a motion hearing on a silence order for a case against Bryan Kohberger in Latah County District Court, Friday, June 9, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Zach Wilkinson/Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, Pool)
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A hearing took place behind closed doors on December 11. Kohberger is due back in court on January 23.
He is being held without bail and could face sentencing death penalty if convicted. The trial will start next year.
