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By Sean O'Driscoll
Senior Crime and Courts Reporter
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The amount of Bryan Kohberger's DNA found on a knife sheath is far greater than defense attorneys would like admitted at trial, a laboratory manager has informed a court.
Why It Matters
Kohberger, 29, has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in connection with the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
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The four University of Idaho students were found dead in an off-campus home on November 13, 2022.
Kohberger refused to plead to the charges in an Idaho state court, so a not-guilty verdict was entered on his behalf.
Newsweek sought email comment from Kohberger's attorney on Friday.
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What To Know
Prosecutors allege that Kohberger's DNA was found on a knife sheath left at the crime scene.
They claim that Kohberger handled the knife sheath and left "touch" DNA behind.
Defense attorneys had wanted the trial judge to tell the jury that the DNA was of such small quantity that it could have ended up on the knife sheath through many different sources, such as shaking hands with someone who handled the knife sheath. They want the terms "touch DNA" and "trace DNA" excluded from evidence.
Touch DNA
In a signed affidavit on March 17, and later filed in court, Rylene Nowlin, laboratory manager at the Idaho State Police Forensic Services (ISPFS) laboratory in Meridian, Idaho, wrote that the DNA should be correctly described as "touch DNA."
She is expected to be called as a witness in the upcoming murder trial.
"The phrase 'touch DNA' is widely used in the forensic DNA community and was used in Dr. Ruth Ballard's expert witness disclosure for this case when referring to the DNA on the knife sheath," Nowlin wrote.
Dr. Ruth Ballard is the defense team's DNA expert in the case.
Nowlin wrote that the phrase "touch DNA" "is typically used to describe DNA collected from items of evidence in areas on the item that would most likely be touched by the user of that item."
Trace DNA
In contrast, the term "trace DNA" "is used in the scientific literature when describing evidence samples with low amounts of DNA that do not yield a profile or only a partial profile."
"I would not be willing to use that term and it would be inappropriate to apply that term to the DNA on the knife sheath because a trace amount of DNA is not what was detected" on "and referring to it as trace DNA would be misleading to the trier of fact," Nowlin wrote.
The trier of fact in this case would be the jury in Kohberger's murder trial, which is due to begin in August.
What People Are Saying
Defense attorney Bicka Barlow asked the court to exclude the terms "touch" or "trace" DNA completely and let the jury decide on the evidence.
In a motion filed on February 24, Barlow wrote: "Allowing the use of these two terms would mislead the jury to believe that there was evidence to support the conclusion of direct contact when in fact there is no direct evidence."
"The admission of these terms would lead to a substantial waste of time in that it would require not only extensive cross examination of the government's witnesses on the topic, but also rebuttal testimony from defense experts on this question. Furthermore, the use of this language would unfairly prejudice Mr. Kohberger," Barlow added.
What Happens Next
Legal wrangling over what can and cannot be included as evidence will likely continue for several weeks, if not months.
Kohberger's trial is scheduled to begin on August 11 and continue until November 7.
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