Prosecutors in the case of accused murderer Bryan Kohberger adjusted their argument to seek the death penalty.
Kohberger, 29, is facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He allegedly fatally stabbed University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus residence in 2022.
Prosecutors initially filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Kohberger in 2023. They submitted an amended notice on Wednesday.
The original notice listed five aggravating circumstances in the case, including that more than one murder was committed at the time and the murder was “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity.”
The amended notice only lists four aggravating circumstances. The state also filed a motion to withdraw one of the circumstances.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson filed an amended notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger on Wednesday. The amended notice lists four aggravating circumstances in the case.
AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool and Zach Wilkinson/The Moscow-Pullman Daily News via AP, Pool
The state will no longer be using “the murder was committed in the perpetration of, or attempt to perpetrate, arson, rape, robbery, burglary, kidnapping or mayhem and the defendant killed, intended killing, or acted with reckless indifference to human,” in its argument for capital punishment.
District Judge Steven Hippler approved the prosecutor’s amended notice.
In Idaho, first-degree murder can be punishable by death if it involves any of 11 aggravating factors. The sentence is decided by the jury and the decision must be unanimous.
Prosecutors will still argue that more than one murder was committed at the time, the murders were “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity,” the murders or circumstances surrounding it showed “utter disregard for human life” and the defendant has shown “a propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.”
Kohberger’s lawyers have argued against the state’s intention to seek the death penalty in a series of motions. The defense gave several objections to the punishment, including that it violates international law and the state statute does not sufficiently specify which first-degree murder defendants are eligible.
“The failure to narrow the class of persons eligible for capital punishment deprives Mr. Kohberger of his rights to due process and equal protection under the Fourteenth Amendment; it permits the arbitrary selection of defendants for death without consistent guidelines to ensure uniformity; and it violates the Eighth Amendment prohibition against cruel and unusual punishment,” Interim Deputy Public Defender Jay Logsdon wrote in a September 4 motion.
Prosecutors responded to the defense’s motions on Wednesday and urged the court to reject their claims.
“The Defendant’s motion is made with no legal authority to support his position and should be denied,” Special Assistant Attorney General Ingrid Batey and Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson wrote in a filing.
The defense has until October 24 to reply to prosecutors. A hearing on the motions filed by Kohberger’s lawyers is scheduled for November 7.
Kohberger is being held in Ada County Jail in Boise as he awaits trial. The trial is scheduled to begin on August 11, with jury selection beginning on July 31.
The case was moved from Latah County to Ada County last month after Judge John Judge, of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District in Latah County, granted the defense’s motion for a change of venue. Hippler took over the case when it was moved.
Newsweek reached out to the prosecutors and Kohberger’s defense team for comment.
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