Kohberger defense files objection to text message evidence, says roommates were awake hours before calling 911

BOISE — The defense team for the man accused in the murders of four University of Idaho students in November 2022 is arguing that text messages between the surviving roommates should not be admitted as evidence, because phone records show the roommates were awake for several hours before calling 911 on the morning of the killings.

Bryan Kohberger is facing four counts of murder in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022.

The prosecution filed motions Feb. 24 asking Ada County Judge Steven Hippler to allow text messages between a person identified as D.M. and another person identified as B.F., as well as attempts from D.M. to call victims Kernodle, Goncalves and Mogen between 4:22 a.m. and 4:24 a.m. Nov. 13, 2022.

The prosecution also hopes to use the transcript of the 911 call made by a roommate after finding the unconscious body of Kernodle just before noon Nov. 13.

Court documents filed March 17 show the two roommates were awake and on their phones between 7:30 a.m. and when they made the 911 call at 11:56 a.m. 

The document of phone records lays out the following timeline: 

• D.M. and B.F. exchanged text messages expressing that their other roommates were not answering messages or calls at 4:22 a.m. 

• D.M. describes seeing a man in a black mask and B.F. tells D.M. to come to their room at 4:24 a.m. 

• Phone records show both D.M. and B.F. called Chapin, Mogen and Kernodle's phones several times around 4:30 a.m.

• No calls, texts or other social media activity is recorded again until 7:30 a.m., when B.F. calls their father, mother and another number. B.F.'s father returns the call at 8:09 a.m. 

• Between 8:09 a.m. and 11:56 a.m., phone records show the roommates making calls, sending texts and using social media. The record does not show the content of any messages or indicate whether phone calls were answered. 

• The final call on the record is B.F.'s call to 911 at 11:56 a.m. 

Kohberger's defense argues that the select messages fail to provide a complete view of D.M. and B.F.'s communications and interactions during the hours leading up to the 911 call.

"The State claims DM woke up and realized her roommates had not responded to her earlier texts. The State is wrong. DM was awake. She was messaging on Snapchat, she was on Instagram and she texted with her dad: and this is not an exhaustive list of activity on her phone," wrote the defense in the motion.

The defense asks the court to consider the full record before allowing the evidence requested by the prosecution to be admitted.