Bryan Kohberger's trial in the horrific killing of four college students is scheduled for next year.
No other murder case attracted as much public interest in 2023 and the investigation has been on an enormous scale.
Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 and charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20.
Here is what we know about the upcoming trial:
The Judge
If ever there was proof of psychologist Carl Jung's theory of nominative determinism—that people are drawn to professions that fit their name—it's Judge John Judge.
Judge Judge, as he is referred to in Idaho legal circles, has been the Latah County magistrate since October 1, 2008, and was reelected with nearly 90 percent of the vote in 2014.
"Judge Judge loves his work, his family, and his life. When he is not working, he is playing outside," according to a profile on the Idaho Judicial Council website.
The Trial Date
The trial had been set to begin October 2 but was postponed indefinitely in August after Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial. The judge accepted his waiver and the trial is expected to be held in 2024.
The Trial Duration
The now-abandoned October 2023 trial schedule offers some valuable insight into how long the trial will take.
According to the schedule, the trial was to run from October 2 to November 17 in Latah County Courthouse in Moscow, Idaho.
So we can expect a trial duration of at least six weeks, but, with added evidence being disclosed in the case, and allowing for delays, it will likely run for at least two months.
The October schedule also shows that jury selection was due to begin a week before the trial. Final disclosure of evidence was set for a month before trial, and that will likely be maintained.
The Allegation
Prosecutors allege that in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at nearby Washington State University, broke into an off-campus home on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, and stabbed the four students to death.
Newsweek reached out to Kohberger's lawyer, Anne Taylor, via email for comment.
After a six-week hunt, police zeroed in on Kohberger as a suspect, saying they tracked his white Hyundai Elantra and cellphone signal data, and recovered what authorities said was his DNA on a knife sheath found next to one of the victims' bodies.
At his arraignment, he declined to offer a plea, so the judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
The Potential Punishment
Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
"Considering all evidence currently known to the State, the State is compelled to file this notice of intent to seek the death penalty," prosecutors wrote in a filing in June.
They also said that they have not been provided with any mitigating evidence that would lower the punishment.
The Motive
One of Kohberger's former friends, Jack Baylis, spoke to Fox Nation about the case and the arrest, saying that Kohberger was often frustrated with women.
It's not known if Baylis will give evidence.
He told Fox that Kohberger expressed issues to him about his dating life and how he would be "ghosted a lot" by women.
Jennifer Coffindaffer, a former FBI agent, told Newsweek in January that she believed Kohberger's deepest motivation for the alleged crimes "would be this incel theory." Coffindaffer is not directly involved in the case.
Incel is an abbreviation for men who are "involuntary celibate" and is often associated with men who are angry with women.
"In terms of his rejection by women and his aggression toward women, that continued to build over just being rejected and not being accepted by women throughout his journey in life," Coffindaffer said.
The Missing Murder Weapon
Despite an extensive search of the house where the killings occurred, as well as Kohberger's university accommodation and his family home in Pennsylvania, the knife used in the killings has never been recovered.
According to former federal prosecutor Neama Rahmani, who is now president of West Coast Trial Lawyers law firm, the lack of a murder weapon does not sink the case against Kohberger.
"Prosecutors would love to have the murder weapon, especially any DNA on it, but it's not fatal to their case," Rahmani told Newsweek. "They'll argue that Kohberger is more sophisticated than your typical accused murderer and probably disposed of it somehow.
Kohberger's Testimony
As Kohberger stayed silent in court, even when asked whether he was pleading guilty or not guilty, it is unlikely that he will give evidence on his own behalf. Even though the judge will tell the jury that they cannot draw any negative inference from Kohberger's silence, it may still weigh against him.
"Even though jurors are instructed that they can't infer guilt from the defendant's silence, implicitly it may have an effect," Rahmani said. "That's why we're seeing a trend with more defendants taking the stand, particularly in high-profile cases like Elizabeth Holmes and Alex Murdaugh."
The Vehicle
According to a police submission to the court, CCTV footage in the area of the house identified a white car speeding down the street soon after the killings.
Police took the video footage to an FBI agent who specializes in identifying vehicles. Not only was the agent an expert on types and makes of vehicles but also knew that there were regional differences in the same make of car—sometimes a certain part may be used for cars sold in one part of America but not in another.
The agent initially identified the car as a Hyundai Elantra made between 2011 and 2014, but, after reviewing the footage over and over looking for small clues, expanded the range from 2011 to 2016.
That evidence will be introduced in trial.
A police officer will also testify that he identified a white Elantra belonging to Kohberger in a driveway in Pullman, Washington, about a 10-minute drive from the house in Moscow, Idaho.
The Witnesses
Two surviving roommates may provide vital evidence about what happened on the night of the killings.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed in court, Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen "were inside the King Road Residence at the time of the homicides and were roommates to the victims."
Funke was staying in the basement of the house at the time of the killings and didn't witness the attack.
Mortensen said she saw the killer on his way out of the house. She told police that she opened her bedroom door on the second floor of the house several times shortly after 4 a.m. She was first awakened by what she thought was Goncalves playing with her dog in one of the third-floor bedrooms. Later, Mortensen said she thought she heard Goncalves say something along the lines of "There's someone here."
Mortensen looked out of her bedroom again when she thought she heard crying from Kernodle's room and a male voice saying something like, "It's ok, I'm going to help you."
When Mortensen opened her door a third time, she said she saw a male figure clad in black clothing and wearing a mask over his mouth and nose.
Mortensen told police that she stood in a "frozen shock phase" as the figure walked past her and out the sliding door that allowed access to the second- and third-floor bedrooms. She described the man as being white, slim but not athletic and having bushy eyebrows.
Attempts to Have Case Thrown Out
The judge this month refused a defense request to have the case dismissed.
Justin Murray, a professor at New York Law School, told Newsweek that pretrial motions to dismiss the indictment "are less commonly made" than requests for a judge to deliver a directed verdict of not guilty after the evidence has been heard.
"Pretrial motions to dismiss are very difficult to win—our legal system purports to rely on adversarial trials to figure out who's guilty and innocent," Murray said, adding that the motion to dismiss before trial was "a longshot."
"No one should fault the public defender for making these arguments on Kohberger's behalf. Quite the opposite: We should celebrate that Kohberger's legal team is putting up a vigorous fight on his behalf, ensuring that his rights are respected throughout the legal process.
"All too often, public defenders...put up no real fight, often because the system deprives them of the resources needed to function well."
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About the writer
Sean O'Driscoll is a Newsweek Senior Crime and Courts Reporter based in Ireland. His focus is reporting on U.S. law. ... Read more
