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By Sophie Clark
Live News Reporter
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Police in Idaho are yet to identify blood samples from two unidentified men left at the crime scene of four stabbing victims, which may be key to accused killer Bryan Kohberger's defense.
Kohberger's attorneys revealed at a recent pre-trial hearing that detectives who investigated the homicide found blood at the crime scene that does not belong to Kohberger.
Kohberger's lead defense attorney, Anne Taylor, has been contacted via email for comment.
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Why It Matters
Kohberger's defense team has pleaded not guilty on his behalf to the four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary against him following the fatal stabbing of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, in 2022.
One of Kohberger's defense attorneys, Anne Taylor, has accused detectives of intentionally omitting information on the other blood samples to a magistrate judge when they sought Kohberger's arrest warrant.
Given that Kohberger needs to be found guilty "beyond a reasonable doubt" this element of different blood at the scene could cast some doubt about his guilt in the eyes of the jury. His defense also says this blood could throw away Kohberger's accusation of "probable cause."
What To Know
Kohberger is the chief suspect in the University of Idaho killings, where four students were stabbed in a house at 1122 King Road. Kohberger's trial is due to begin in August of this year in Boise, Idaho.
At the time of the killings, Kohberger, a Pennsylvania native, was studying for his Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University's campus in Pullman, Washington, less than eight miles from Moscow.
Kohberger was also a teaching assistant at his school, but was fired from his job about two weeks before his arrest.
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DNA has already proven a critical and contentious point in this trial, as Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath at the house where Mogen, Goncalves, Kernodle, and Chapin were stabbed.
However, Kohberger's lawyers have said this DNA was illegally obtained by the FBI. They claim that the FBI broke the 4th Amendment on illegal search and seizure by submitting his DNA to a public ancestry database when law enforcement is not legally permitted to use this site.
Now, Kohberger's defense is saying that the police are also ignoring the two other blood samples at the scene: one from the staircase, and one from a glove outside of the house.
They have claimed the police knew about these samples in 2023, but did not upload them to the FBI's DNA database due to not fitting eligibility requirements, and did not tell the magistrate judge about them.
Kohberger's defense will still have to answer in court how Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath at a stabbing crime scene.
What People Are Saying
Ada County District Judge Steven Hippler, at a hearing last month: "How does [the new blood], even if disclosed, preclude a finding of probable cause when there's a DNA match between the DNA on the sheath and Mr. Kohberger? Isn't that probable cause every day and twice on Sunday?"
Anne Taylor, at a hearing last month: "Police found "absolutely no connection between [Kohberger] and anybody from 1122 King. There's no blood in his car," she added. "He wasn't connected to that house, to the people in the house."
What Happens Next
Kohberger remains in custody at Ada County Jail in Boise, Idaho, as he awaits trial.
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