Judge makes key ruling in case of Idaho college murders that captivated the country

Bryan Kohberger’s team hired a consultant to survey potential jurors about the case

Bryan Kohberger, right, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, (AP)

Defense for a man charged in the deaths of four University of Idaho students, in a case that captivated the world, can resume phone surveys of potential jurors, a judge has said.

Bryan Kohberger faces four murder charges in connection with the November 2022 stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. A judge has entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger's behalf, and prosecutors say they will seek the death penalty if he is convicted.

Kohberger's team hired a consultant to survey potential jurors living near the university about things they might have seen, heard or read about the case.

The phone survey included questions about Kohberger's arrest, the type of car he owns, DNA evidence and a knife sheath found near one of the bodies. It also included questions about whether the person being surveyed had watched true crime-style shows about the case or other things they might have heard.

When prosecutors became aware of the survey earlier this year, they asked 2nd District Judge John Judge to order the defense team to stop, arguing that the surveys violated a broad gag order the judge had issued in the case. Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said some of the questions could prejudice people who could be called to serve as jurors when the case goes to trial.

Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 (Instagram)

In a ruling issued Friday, Judge said the surveys could continue as long as the questions do not violate his gag order. Most of the questions included information already publicly available through court documents, the judge wrote in the ruling, and so did not violate the order.

Other questions about rumors people might have heard or crime documentaries they might have seen about the case were not part of the public record when the surveys began, but they have since been debated and discussed in open court — which means they, too, are now part of the public record and can be included in future surveys, Judge said.

Bryan Kohberger, right, is escorted into a courtroom for a hearing in Latah County District Court, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho

The bodies of the four University of Idaho students were found at a rental home near campus on November 13, 2022. Police arrested Kohberger, 29 and then a graduate student at nearby Washington State University, more than six weeks later at his parents' home in eastern Pennsylvania, where he had gone for winter break.

Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s public defender, wrote in a court filing last Wednesday that Kohberger was an avid runner and hiker who frequently went out for drives late at night.

Under Idaho law, defendants may be required to notify prosecutors in advance of any alibi defense. In a filing last August, Taylor wrote that Kohberger’s alibi was that he was out driving alone that night, as he often did. Wednesday’s document offered more details, including at least one of his destinations — Wawawai Park, along the Snake River southwest of Pullman — in the opposite direction from Moscow.

“Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,” Taylor wrote. “He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park.”

The filing also detailed that the defense intends to offer the testimony of an expert in cellphone and cell tower data to support the notion that Kohberger did not travel east along the main road connecting Pullman and Moscow that night, Taylor wrote.

No date has been set for the trial.