Man who ‘killed four university students could walk free thanks to new evidence’

New evidence could change the course of the trial of a man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students.

Lawyers for Bryan Kohberger, 30, who was a criminology PhD candidate when he allegedly stabbed dead four students in November 2022, recently revealed that detectives found blood from unidentified men at the crime scene.

One blood sample was found on a glove outside the victims’ off-campus home, the lead defense attorney told the court

Police did not mention the unidentified blood DNA to a judge in December 2022 when they sought to obtain a warrant to arrest Kohberger, said defense attorney Anne Taylor during the hearing.

Detectives then did not present that evidence to the judge for her probable cause determination, argued Taylor, so some evidence in the case should be discounted.

Police did say they uncovered on the bed of a victim, a leather sheath for a knife with DNA that matched Kohberger.

Ada County District Judge Steven Hippler rejected the defense team’s argument on the unidentified samples.

‘How does that, even if disclosed, preclude a finding of probable cause when there’s a DNA match between the DNA on the sheath and Mr. Kohberger?’ he told Taylor.

‘Isn’t that probable cause every day and twice on Sunday?’

Taylor responded that the judge should consider all factors in determining probable cause.

‘It’s these other things that are withheld that create a context around it… Do we want to have one thing with no context around it when there’s this other context that really matters?’ she said.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and a count of burglary. A Moscow grand jury found probable case and indicted him on the five felony charges.

The victims are Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene.

Kohberger is set to stand trial in Boise in August.

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