In a court document, Bryan Kohberger’s counsel claimed that he was out driving when four University of Idaho students were killed while they were asleep, releasing his alibi on Thursday evening.
The King Road home in Moscow, Idaho was home to five people, including three of the victims, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Kaylee Goncalves. On November 13, 2022, when all four were reportedly slain by Bryan Kohberger, who allegedly entered the home at around 4 a.m., another victim, Ethan Chapin, who was dating Kernodle and was staying there, was also a victim.
One of the two survivors heard a commotion and saw a man leaving the house through a rear sliding door, according to a police affidavit.
Kohberger “has long had a habit of going for drives alone,” said to Anne Taylor, Kohberger’s public defender, in her Thursday night brief.
“Often he would go for drives at night. He did so late on November 12 and into November 13, 2022. Mr. Kohberger is not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time; at this time there is not a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was at each moment of the hours between late night November 12, 2022 and early morning November 13, 2022. He was out, driving during the late night and early morning hours of November 12-13, 2022” the filing states.
“Corroboration of Bryan Kohberger NOT being at 1122 King may be brought out through cross-examination of the state’s witnesses. At this time, Mr Kohberger cannot be more specific about the possible witnesses and exactly what they will say. The defence has been hampered by the state’s own choices,” the filing adds.
If the state had decided to proceed with a preliminary hearing, according to Taylor, “the defence would have had the opportunity to develop testimony through cross-examination and witness presentation.”
Criminal defence lawyer and former prosecutor David Gelman said in an interview with Fox News Digital that he believes the defence is “trying to keep open the prospect of creating or generating an alibi, even though they don’t have one.”
“That’s not an alibi,” Gelman said. “An alibi is having an individual testify that, ‘Hey, this person was here or with me.’”
“So [the defence is] really just grasping at straws and they’re really just wanting to keep their case very tight to the vest and prejudice the state as much as possible,” he added.
On May 17, Kohberger, a former PhD candidate in criminology, was charged with killing the four students.
Due to the indictment, Kohberger’s defence team was unable to discuss the evidence that led to his detention at the preliminary hearing on June 26.
