Idaho murders: Judge in Bryan Kohberger case hears defense motion

The judge overseeing the Idaho murders case in which suspect Bryan Kohberger is accused of killing four university students announced a hearing on Wednesday, just hours before another scheduled hearing was set to begin on Thursday morning. 

Kohberger, the man accused in the brutal stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students in November 2022, is challenging a host of evidence in an effort to prevent prosecutors from presenting it at trial. 

On Wednesday, Judge Steven Hippler ruled that the courtroom where Kohberger’s pre-trial hearings will occur should be closed to the public, including the media. However, there will be a live stream of certain portions of the evidence suppression hearings made public. 

A lawyer for the media argued that all of tomorrow’s hearing should be open to the public. 

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The portions of the hearing that will be closed include the police use of Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG), a DNA analysis method utilizing public ancestry databases to identify potential suspects, as a crucial key in the prosecution’s evidence to identify Kohberger as their suspect. 

Kohberger’s defense claims using this data violated Kohberger’s constitutional rights.

Hippler says his main concern for keeping the hearings closed is to not “taint” the jury pool by allowing discussion of information that will ultimately be inadmissible at trial. 

Kohberger’s defense team has asked the judge to dismiss key evidence, including DNA found on a knife sheath at the crime scene and items seized from his apartment, car and online activity.

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Kohberger’s defense also agreed, which was a change from their previous stance, now preferring to try the case in public ahead of the trial. 

Kohberger is facing four first-degree murder charges and a felony burglary charge in connection with the early morning massacre of four University of Idaho students.

Around 4 a.m., on Nov. 13, 2022, prosecutors allege he snuck into a house near the University of Idaho campus – as some of them were asleep – and killed them with a large knife. A surviving housemate told detectives she saw a masked man with “bushy eyebrows” after overhearing crying and sounds of a struggle. 

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The victims were Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, their housemate Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, also 20. 

Kohberger, a criminology Ph.D. student at the nearby Washington State University, was arrested weeks later at his parents’ house in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. Kohberger is facing four first-degree murder charges and a felony burglary charge in connection with the early morning massacre, during which prosecutors allege he snuck into the house near the University of Idaho campus and brutally killed the four innocent students using a large knife. 

A judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf at his arraignment in May 2023.

Kohberger is being held without bail and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Fox News’ Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.