Bryan Kohberger's 'alternate perpetrator' defense rejected by judge in murder case
Bryan Kohberger's defense team sought to point fingers at four other people during the murder trial set to begin in August.
The man accused of killing four Idaho college students in 2022 was dealt a blow in court when a judge ruled his defense can't point fingers at other potential suspects because there is no evidence of their connection to the crime.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, and his defense team may not pursue what's known in the state of Idaho as an "alternate perpetrator" defense by suggesting four other people could be behind the stabbings, a judge ruled on June 26. The murder trial is set to begin in August.
Kohberger is charged in the murders of Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four were found stabbed to death in their rental house close to the University of Idaho campus on Nov. 13, 2022. Kohberger was arrested in late December of that year, after the town of Moscow was put on edge over the killings and lack of a suspect for weeks.
Kohberger's defense attorneys offered four alternate perpetrators, whose identities were kept secret in redacted and sealed court filings. Three of them were "socially connected" to one or more of the victims and interacted with them in the hours before the killings, and the fourth had a "passing connection" to one victim and followed her briefly while exiting a store but didn't speak to her, the judge's ruling said.
The judge in Ada County said in his ruling that the defense hadn't met the standard of the 2009 precedent-setting case State v. Meister, which established that alternate perpetrator defenses must comply with the state's rules of evidence.
"Namely, the evidence is entirely irrelevant," Judge Steven Hippler said in his June 26 ruling, adding that there was not a "scintilla of competent evidence connecting them to the crime."
Hippler said the three people who knew the victims socially may have had the opportunity to commit the crime because they were familiar with the victims and the layout of their home, but there was no evidence they had motive or means to kill them. Dozens of other people in the victims' social circles probably had the same level of opportunity, Hippler said.
"They have each cooperated with law enforcement, providing DNA samples, fingerprints and allowing searches as requested. Notably, lab testing has excluded their DNA from samples taken from the crime scene and victims," Hippler wrote.
The fourth person noticed one of the victims shopping about five weeks before the murders and surveillance cameras captured him briefly following her out of a store while considering approaching her to talk, but turning away without speaking to her, the judge said. He also cooperated with law enforcement and his DNA was excluded from the crime scene samples.
Hippler wrote that "it is not sufficient for a defendant to merely offer up unsupported speculation that another person may have committed the crime, which is all Defendant has done here."
The alternate perpetrator evidence brought by the defense would only "lead the jury astray" from their focus on whether Kohberger committed the crimes, and could unfairly prejudice the jury and invite them to blame people who are unrepresented at the trial, Hippler said.
The ruling threw another wrench into Kohberger's defense, which has previously failed at attempts to toss out DNA evidence linking him to the crime scene. Also this week, Hippler denied the defense's request to delay the trial.
What evidence connects Kohberger to the crime?
After the killings of the four students, investigators testified at the Jan. 23, 2025, hearing that they spent weeks trying to identify a suspect, an unsealed court transcript shows. Their most promising piece of evidence was DNA obtained from the Ka-Bar knife sheath found near some of the victims' bodies.
A police search warrant previously revealed Kohberger's phone was tracked near the students' house at least 12 times in the six months before the attack. Neighborhood security camera videos also helped police identify a car they said was owned by Kohberger. The car was seen on video at least four times in the early morning hours the day of the killings before speeding off, earlier court filings said. Kohberger's defense has previously claimed he was driving alone and not present at the victims' homes.
In the unsealed transcript, investigators were questioned about how they identified Kohberger using a process called investigative genetic genealogy, a relatively new tool made possible by the rise in popularity of consumer genetic testing through companies like AncestryDNA and 23andMe. They used the process to discover potential relatives of the person whose DNA was on the sheath.
Investigators later obtained trash from Kohberger's parents' home in Pennsylvania and confirmed DNA found there belonged to the father of the person whose DNA was on the knife sheath. Later still, investigators took a swab from Kohberger's cheek and made a direct comparison.
When will the Kohberger trial begin?
Jury selection for Kohberger's trial is expected to begin on Aug. 4, 2025. The trial is estimated to begin with opening statements on Aug. 18, Hippler wrote in a scheduling order. The trial was previously scheduled to begin on Aug. 11.
Kohberger faces one count of burglary and four counts of murder. A judge entered a plea of not guilty on his behalf.
Prosecutors have said they will pursue the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.