How Idaho Murders Suspect Bryan Kohberger Is Trying to Avoid Possible Death Sentence: 'Kitchen Sink Approach'

Mar. 15, 2025

Bryan Kohberger.Photo:AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

AP Photo/Ted S. Warren

Bryan Kohbergerfaces four counts of murder in connection with the November 2022killings of four University of Idaho students— and if convicted, the former criminology Ph.D student could face the death penalty.

On Thursday, Nov. 7, Kohberger appeared in court in Boise, Idaho, for a hearing that will determine whether he will get a death sentence if convicted in the brutal stabbing deaths ofMadison Mogen, 21,Kaylee Goncalves, 21,Xana Kernodle, 20, andEthan Chapin, 20, of which he’s accused. The killings happened nearly two years ago on Nov. 13, 2022, at an off-campus residence in the college town of Moscow, Idaho.

Kohberger’s defense team is fighting against capital punishment, arguing that the firing squad method of execution is a “cruel and unusual punishment,”NBC NewsandFox Newsreports.

In response to Ada County District Court Judge Steven Hippler asking if the anxiety of not knowing how long Kohberger would be on death row is also unconstitutional, Ann Taylor, Kohberger’s public defender said, “It is anxiety. It is fear. It is the not knowing,” NBC News reports. Taylor also suggested in court that if her client is convicted, the jury — and not the judge — should decide whether Kohberger will receive a death sentence. But is that possible?

“I think it’s highly unlikely that the trial judge takes the death penalty off the table, but the defense is taking a kitchen sink approach, throwing everything on the table, not because they think that the trial judge will buy it, or even that the jury will not issue a death sentence if Kohberger is convicted,”Neama Rahmani, a former federal prosecutor and president of West Coast Trial Lawyers, tells PEOPLE.

“They’re looking at the appellate courts, and in any death penalty case, there are mandatory state and federal appeals, and it’s actually statistically more likely to get a death sentence overturned on appeal," he adds.

Bryan Kohberger.Monroe County Correctional Facility via Getty

Monroe County Correctional Facility via Getty

“You just need one appellate judge, state or federal, to buy one of these arguments, and you might save his life years down the road,” he says.

From left: Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle.Courtesy of Chapin Family; Maddie Mogen/Instagram; Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram; Xana Kernodle/Instagram

Courtesy of Chapin Family; Maddie Mogen/Instagram; Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram; Xana Kernodle/Instagram

According to the affidavit, Kohberger’s phone allegedly pinged 12 times in the area of the1122 King Road home where the killings took place on at least twelve occasionsprior to November 13, 2022.

Kohberger was a criminology Ph.D student at Washington State University and lived in Pullman, Wash., roughly eight miles away from the scene of the crime, at the time of the slayings. He has pleaded not guilty.

Kohberger’s defense attorney claimed in a previous court filing that he was driving late at night “as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,“the filing reads.

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It also states that Kohberger was an avid runner and hiker, but adds that his hiking and running decreased during the school year, but “his nighttime drives increased.”

source: people.com