Bryan Kohberger Wants New Evidence in Idaho Murder Case

Bryan Kohberger’s defense team is requesting new evidence in the ongoing Idaho quadruple murder case.

On Monday, the Idaho Statesman reported that Judge John Judge, who is overseeing Kohberger’s case, is expected to hold two closed-door hearings this week to discuss recent requests made by Anne Taylor, a public defender and the lead of Kohberger’s defense team.

According to the Idaho Statesman, Taylor is requesting new evidence relating to the probable cause affidavit used in Kohberger’s arrest, including cellphone tower data, a video of a vehicle seen near 1122 King Road where the murders were committed and information relating to a drive test.

“The state knows full well what they have and what they’re withholding from us…We don’t know what they’re going to show, but we know they exist,” Taylor said at a hearing this month, the Statesman reported.

Kohberger, 29, was arrested in December 2022 and charged with four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of felony burglary in the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Kohberger has maintained his innocence in the case. He remained silent during his arraignment, allowing Judge John Judge to enter not-guilty pleas for each of the charges.

Last month, Kohberger’s defense team filed a motion providing new information on an alibi where the defense planned to call Sy Ray, a former police officer who specializes in analyzing cell phone data in criminal cases, to serve as a defense witness and dispute some aspects of the cellphone pings included in the probable cause affidavit.

The alibi motion said that Ray will testify that “Bryan Kohberger’s mobile device was south of Pullman, Washington and west of Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022; that Bryan Kohberger‘s mobile device did not travel east on the Moscow-Pullman Highway in the early morning hours of November 13th, and thus could not be the vehicle captured on video along the Moscow-Pullman highway near Floyd’s Cannabis shop.”

The affidavit also alleged that Kohberger’s cell pinged near his off-campus Washington State University apartment at 630 Northeast Valley Road at 2:42 a.m. on the night of the murders, and was later seen on surveillance footage from Washington State University “traveling north on southeast Nevada Street at northeast Stadium Way.”

In January 2023, Newsweek drove from the Kohberger’s apartment to the street mentioned in the affidavit and the trip took just over seven minutes.

According to the Idaho Statesman, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, who is leading the case against Kohberger, previously rejected Taylor’s claims that the state was concealing evidence.

“The characterization that we’re just consciously withholding information to frustrate the defense is utter nonsense,” Thompson said during a hearing this month, the Statesman reported. “That is not true. We will provide everything we can that is providable under the rules.”

Newsweek reached out to Thompson and Taylor via email for comment.