Lawyers for Bryan Kohbergerof which the man is accused in which four University of Idaho students were fatally stabbed According to a new lawsuit, he plans to use cell phone tower data in 2022 to prove he was not at the location where the murders took place.
Kohberger is accused of killing Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in mid-November 2022 at a home in Moscow, Idaho, where the university is located. The house has been around ever since demolished.
Court documents providing an alibi for Kohberger stated that he was “driving during the early morning hours of November 13, 2022; as he often did to walk and run and/or see the moon and stars. He drove through the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park.”
The document states that an expert in cell site location information will testify that cell tower data shows that “Kohberger’s mobile device was located south of Pullman, Washington and west of Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022 ; that Bryan Kohberger’s mobile device did not travel east on the Moscow border.” -Pullman Highway in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, and thus cannot be the vehicle captured on video along the Moscow-Pullman highway near Floyd’s cannabis store.
An earlier affidavit stated that investigators found cell tower data from that morning showing that Kohberger’s phone was in Pullman around 2:47 a.m. on the night of the murders, after which the phone suddenly stopped connecting to the cell network, thus “48 hours.” It was around this time that surveillance footage caught his car leaving his apartment, “48 Hours” reported.
Two hours after his phone disappeared from the network, it reappeared south of Moscow and headed back toward Pullman, “48 Hours” reported.
At the time of his arrest, about six weeks after the murders, Kohberger was a Ph.D. criminology student and teaching assistant at Washington State University’s Pullman campus, about a 15-minute drive from Moscow. Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania.
Wednesday’s defense alibi also stated that more information about Kohberger’s location on the night of the murders “will be provided once the state has provided the requested discovery and is now subject to an upcoming motion to compel.” If this is not disclosed, [the expert’s] Testimony will also reveal that critical exculpatory evidence, which further corroborates Mr. Kohberger’s alibi, has not been preserved or has been withheld.”
Kohberger’s attorney has also requested a change of venue, The Associated Press reportedarguing that he would not receive a fair trial in the area where the murders took place.
“A fair and impartial jury cannot be found in Latah County because of the extensive, inflammatory pre-trial publicity, the accusations made to the public about Mr. Kohberger by the media that will be inadmissible at his trial, the small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the seriousness of the charges Mr. Kohberger faces,” attorney Anne Taylor wrote, according to AP.
The Latah County prosecutor opposed the venue change request, the AP reported.
A hearing on the change of venue motion will take place on May 14, 2024, according to court documents.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in connection with the students’ stabbing deaths. Kohberger did not respond when asked how he pleaded at his arraignment, so a judge entered not guilty pleas for him. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
—Kerry Breen contributed reporting.
