Prosecution narrows death penalty argument for Kohberger

Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students, should indeed be subject to the death penalty if he is convicted of first-degree murder, state prosecutors argued in newly filed court documents. 

The prosecution laid out its stance why Idaho’s capital punishment laws should apply in the high-profile case, which is now scheduled for trial in August 2025. The trove of filings came in response to Kohberger’s defense team last month challenging a possible death sentence for their client if a jury finds him guilty. 

Led by Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, prosecutors issued their intent last year to seek a death sentence for Kohberger. As required under Idaho law, they cited the so-called aggravating factors to justify eligibility for capital punishment, including allegations that Kohberger “exhibited utter disregard for human life” and “a propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.” 

Prosecutors this week met a court-imposed deadline to submit objections to the defense’s effort to eliminate the death penalty as a possible sentence. In 13 legal briefs, the prosecution countered thousands of pages filed earlier by the defense that posed myriad arguments, including that the state’s death penalty statute is “unconstitutionally vague,” breaks with modern standards of decency and violates international human rights laws. 

“The crux of the defendant’s argument is that there has been a major shift in public opinion regarding the morality, decency, and humanity of the death penalty,” read one filing signed by Thompson and Ingrid Batey, an Idaho special assistant attorney general assigned to the case.

A majority of U.S. states still maintain capital punishment on the books, they wrote, despite the defense’s claims that the death penalty constitutes cruel and unusual punishment in violation of constitutional rights. 

“The court should deny the defendant’s motion because this is an issue that has already been ruled upon by the Idaho Supreme Court,” the prosecution argued. “Defendant is asking this court to ignore Idaho precedent as well as precedent set by the Supreme Court of the United States.” 

Kohberger, 29, is accused in the stabbing deaths of the four U of I students at an off-campus home in Moscow in November 2022. The victims were Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle, both 20, and Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncavles, both 21. 

The three women lived with two other female housemates at the rental house on King Road, which was demolished late last year, and Chapin was staying over for the night with Kernodle, his girlfriend. The two other housemates both went physically unharmed and are expected to testify at trial.

At the time of the homicides, Kohberger was living in nearby Pullman, Wash., as a graduate student at Washington State University. He was arrested in late December 2022 at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania during winter break from school, and then brought to Idaho to face the allegations. Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He is in custody without bond at the Ada County Jail in Boise.

At the defense’s request over concerns of local juror bias in the community where the crime took place, the prior judge granted a venue change for Kohberger’s forthcoming capital murder trial. The Idaho Supreme Court moved the case from Moscow to Boise and assigned it to Judge Steven Hippler of Idaho’s 4th Judicial District.