Lawyers representing Bryan Kohberger, who faces charges for the quadruple murder of four University of Idaho students, expressed new concerns on Thursday about surveillance and webcam footage from the night of the crime.
Kohberger, 29, is accused of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, whose bodies were found in a Moscow, Idaho home on November 13, 2022.
Throughout the case, Kohberger has maintained his innocence and did not speak during his arraignment, prompting the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf. His legal team has sought to move the trial outside of Latah County, Idaho.
At a hearing on Thursday, Kohberger’s attorney Anne Taylor questioned Moscow Police Detective Lawrence Mowery about surveillance footage obtained from Windy.com, a site hosting cameras nationwide, including Idaho. Mowery explained that prosecutors instructed him to review the footage earlier in the week to find a screenshot from the day of the murders.
“But you didn’t look back then, you waited until yesterday. Is that right?” Taylor asked.
“No, we looked back then…most of the photos that were taken for the daily screenshots were daytime,” Mowery responded.
Kohberger’s defense team also argued during the hearing that evidence relevant to discovery, including cellphone tower data, and video and audio recordings of a white sedan near the crime scene, which investigators used to connect Kohberger to the murders, is being withheld by prosecutors.
Previously, Kohberger’s legal team presented information about an alibi stating that his mobile device was located south of Pullman, Washington, and west of Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022.
According to the affidavit used for Kohberger’s arrest, his cellphone pinged near his off-campus apartment at Washington State University (WSU) at 2:42 a.m., and he was seen on surveillance footage from WSU two minutes later, heading north on southeast Nevada Street at northeast Stadium Way.
