Idaho Murders Trial: Bryan Kohberger Has an Alibi, But Won’t Provide Specific Location

We are roughly two months away from the start of the ‘Idaho Murders’ trial – where the primary suspect, Bryan Kohberger, is being accused of stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in November of last year. He was arrested in December, indicted on five charges in May, and declined to enter a plea.

In a court document filed on Wednesday (August 2), Kohberger’s lawyers confirmed he’ll be using an alibi defense, but can’t provide his exact location at the time of the murders because he was driving. “Often he would go for drives at night. He did so late on November 12 and into November 13, 2022,” the filing read. 

His lawyers filed the document in response to an objection they had last week when a prosecutor tried to force Kohberger to share his exact location at the time of the four slayings and release the names of anyone who could testify to his location at that time – as is needed whenever entering an alibi defense. 

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“Mr. Kohberger is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time; at this time there is not a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was at each moment of the hours between late night November 12, 2022 and early morning November 13, 2022,” his lawyers continued in the filing.

For those that need a refresher: Bryan Kohberger is currently facing four counts of first-degree murder stemming from an incident that occured in the early hours of November 13. At some point between 4:00 and 4:25 a.m., four University of Idaho students were stabbed to death in their off-campus residence. 

There were six people in the house at the time, but two of the roommates weren’t targeted and slept through the incident. The bodies of the four deceased were found by one of the surviving roommates later that morning. Police ruled out the two surviving roommates as suspects after zeroing in on Kohberger.

The four victims of the University of Idaho murders were identified as Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. Kernodle and Chapin were dating at the time of their deaths. A vigil was held for them at the University of Idaho two weeks after the gruesome murders. 

Do Prosecutors Have Any Evidence Against Bryan Kohberger?

While it’s unclear how well his alibi defense will hold up in court, what we do know is there’s a reason why Bryan Kohberger is being put on trial and it’s the result of a month-long investigation that led to his arrest in December. As part of that investigation, authorities found several links that connected him to the crime.

For example, Kohberger’s vehicle was seen driving at and near the crime scene at the time of the murders. Investigators also discovered numerous cellphone pings that confirm he was in the area at that time and he also visited the University of Idaho Student Union just a few weeks before they were killed. 

To make matters worse for Bryan Kohberger, his DNA was fond on a knife sheath that was found in the bed that Mogen and Goncalves were sleeping in before they were murdered. They were able to link that DNA to Bryan through a DNA sample of his father that was found in the trash outside their family home.

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Other reports suggest that he followed all three of the female victims on social media, saved pictures of one of the girls on his cell phone, and messaged one of the victims on Instagram. There’s likely a lot more that the public isn’t aware of, most of which will be discussed when his trial begins sometime in October.