MOSCOW, Idaho — The man suspected of murdering four University of Idaho students last November stood silent as a judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Bryan Kohberger was indicted by a grand jury last Tuesday for the charges related to the murders of Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle, and Madison Mogen on November 13, 2022. With sufficient evidence established to formally charge him with the murders, he was asked to enter a plea and potentially proceed to trial.
On Monday, he did not enter a plea on his own behalf. Because of this, Judge John Judge entered not guilty pleas for the murders. The indictment in the case is expected to be released later on Monday.
The trial for the suspect is set to begin on Oct. 2, 2023 at 8:30 a.m. It is expected to last for six weeks.
How we got here
Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found stabbed to death in an off-campus home on King Road near the University of Idaho on November 13, 2022. The murders left the rural college town afraid and without answers, prompting many to leave campus early for Thanksgiving break.
Nearly two months went by with seemingly no leads for investigators. However, that all changed on December 30, 2022, when police announced Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania. He was extradited back to Idaho that same week.
At the time of the murders, the suspect was a Ph.D. student at Washington State University, which is located approximately 10 miles from the University of Idaho.
In an 18-page affidavit of probable cause, investigators reported a knife sheath was found next to Mogen's body. On that sheath, Idaho's State Lab found a 'single source of male DNA,' which was labeled suspect profile. The sample was pulled from the button snap on the sheath.
On December 27, 2022, three days before his arrest, Pennsylvania agents took trash from Kohbergers' parents' home in Albrightsville. The garbage was sent to the Idaho State Lab, and within a day, the lab had another DNA profile.
The affidavit says 'the Idaho State Lab reported that a DNA profile obtained from the trash and the DNA profile obtained from the sheath identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father of Suspect Profile. At least 99.9998% of the male population would be expected to be excluded from the possibility of being the suspect's biological father."
Kohberger had his first appearance in Latah County Court on January 5, 2023. One week later, he appeared again and waived his right to a speedy preliminary hearing. That hearing was then scheduled to begin on June 26, 2023, and last the entire week.
However, news broke Tuesday that Kohberger had been indicted on all charges against him by a grand jury.
KREM 2 will be in Moscow at the Latah County Courthouse all day on Monday and will bring live updates as we receive them.
DOWNLOAD THE KREM SMARTPHONE APP
DOWNLOAD FOR IPHONE HERE | DOWNLOAD FOR ANDROID HERE
HOW TO ADD THE KREM+ APP TO YOUR STREAMING DEVICE
ROKU: add the channel from the ROKU store or by searching for KREM in the Channel Store.
Fire TV: search for "KREM" to find the free app to add to your account. Another option for Fire TV is to have the app delivered directly to your Fire TV through Amazon.
To report a typo or grammatical error, please email webspokane@krem.com.