MOSCOW, Idaho — New court filings in the case of Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students last year, give some insight as to how much evidence police have collected for the prosecution.
Kohberger, 28, is charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students in an off-campus home, 1122 King Road, in Moscow on Nov. 13, 2022. Police say they matched Kohberger's DNA found at the scene that was discovered on a knife sheath next to the bodies of Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were also stabbed to death in the same home, sometime in the early morning hours of that Sunday. Two roommates who were home at the time of the killings survived, unharmed.
According to court filings by state prosecutors on Friday, they claim they have turned over thousands of photos and reports to the defense.
The document is in response to the defense's requests for discovery, which is commonplace for a case in the judicial system. This is so both sides get a chance to review and analyze the evidence against a defendant in order to see to a fair trial.
The prosecution tells the defense in the filing they have turned over 10,000 pages of reports and written materials, 10,200 photographs, 9,200 tips and 51 terabytes of video, audio and digital materials.
The defense previously asked for body camera and dash camera footage of Kohberger's arrest at his parents' home in Pennsylvania in December of 2022, but the state claims there is no more of this footage beyond what they have provided -- and interestingly enough, say there is no body camera footage from this time at all.
Kohberger's attorney Anne Taylor wrote in her earlier motion to compel discovery on May 4 that the defense believes forensic evidence collected from Kohberger's family home, including his white Hyundai Elantra, "may contain exculpatory evidence." The state says all of the analysis from items collected as evidence have already been disclosed to Kohberger -- even reports from the FBI laboratory in Quantico, Virginia.
In addition, the prosecution says the defense's own investigators and prosecutors are able to view all the items found at Kohberger's family home, as well as his car, at any time.
It was previously unknown if there were any interrogations that Moscow Police conducted involving Kohberger, but according to the prosecution, Moscow Police Det. Brett Payne interviewed him at some point. It's unclear when that interview took place, but the state says they have given the defense all the recordings and notes related to this interview.
Other requests from the defense include Idaho State Police lab reports, one that is still pending approval, and training records of certain officers involved in the murder case.
Kohberger has a preliminary hearing on June 26, one that will likely include pieces of testimony and evidence exhibits in order to move the case beyond a magistrate court.
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