Judgment Day for Idaho Murder Suspect: Prosecutors Have 30 More Days to Decide to Seek the Death Penalty Against Bryan Kohberger
June 23 2023, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
The clock is ticking for prosecutors to decide whether or not to file a notice of intent to seek the death penalty for the 28-year-old suspect charged with the University of Idaho quadruple murders, RadarOnline.com has learned.
A cheek swab taken from Bryan Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at Washington State University, is a statistical match to DNA evidence found at the Moscow crime scene where four students were murdered late last year, court docs showed.
It matched that on a knife sheath found under one of the victims. It was determined to be "at least 5.37 octillion times more likely" to belong to Kohberger than an "unrelated individually randomly selected from the general population."
Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, at an off-campus home in November.
As he awaits trial, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson was given a 60-day time frame on May 22 to file a notice of intent, and as of yesterday, nothing has been filed.
Former U.S. District Attorney for Idaho, Wendy Olson, previously said she believes it "is likely a death penalty case" based on the circumstances of the crime.
Kohberger pled not guilty to several charges, and a trial is set for October.
Last May, he was indicted on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
In addition to DNA evidence, prosecutors are prepared to draw attention to the white sedan caught on surveillance footage repeatedly driving past the home around the time of the killings and nearby cell phone activity on a dozen occasions beforehand.
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Kohberger's neighbor also claimed he spoke to him directly about the slayings days after they took place.
"He brought it up in conversation, asked if I'd heard about the murders. Which I had," the neighbor shared. "Then he said, 'Yeah, it seems like they have no leads. It seems like it was a crime of passion.'"
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