New details have emerged regarding Bryan Kohberger’s actions hours after the brutal murders of four students on a university campus.
Bryan Kohberger stands accused of murdering four University of Idaho in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022.
The four students were 20-year-olds Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, and 21-year-olds Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen. They were found deceased in their shared King Road apartment house in Moscow, Idaho.
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Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt confirmed that the cause of death in each case was murder by stabbing, saying the four students had been ‘butchered’.
Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, with the 30-year-old having pleaded not guilty, He also provided an alibi that he was driving alone at the time of the killings.
“Mr. Kohberger has long had a habit of going for drives alone," public defender Anne Taylor wrote in a filing. "Often he would go for drives at night."
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Now, 40 new court filings that were released on March 19 by the judge overseeing the case, Hon. Steven Hippler, have revealed a new image of Kohberger.
The photo is a selfie that Kohberger took on his phone at 10:31 a.m. on November 13, 2022 - hours after the four students were murdered. The image is of particular importance, because it appears to show Kohberger with 'bushy eyebrows' - a description a surviving housemate used to describe the assailant she saw in the house on the night of the attack.
They gave a description of a tall, masked man with ‘bushy eyebrows’ walking past her the night of the murders.
The defense of Kohberger wants the judge to exclude this partial description in the upcoming trial.
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Kohberger’s team have argued that the witness’ description was unreliable because she had been drinking that night and additionally, that ‘bushy eyebrows is not enough of a description to qualify as evidence.
Prosecutors have combatted this and said they want a jury to describe for itself if the ‘bushy eyebrow’ description is accurate, in part by showing them the selfie Kohberger had taken that day.
The selfie has also begun to circulate on social media.
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The accused will stand trial from July 30, the date when jury selection begins, and it is expected to last for three months - with court documents explaining that jurors will need time to deliberate over the death penalty if Kohberger is found guilty.
Gerrard Kaonga