Prosecutors said Monday they plan to seek the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger, the suspect accused of murdering four University of Idaho students last year.
In a court filing, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson said that no mitigating circumstances prevent prosecutors from considering all penalties within the state, including the possibility of seeking capital punishment.
“Consequently, considering all evidence currently known to the State, the State is compelled to file this notice of intent to seek the death penalty,” the document said.
Kohberger, 28, a former criminology student at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in late December, weeks after the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20, whose bodies were found by another roommate on Nov. 13, 2022.
Prosecutors made their intention known about a month after a judge formally entered a “not guilty” plea on Kohberger’s behalf on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. Under state law, prosecutors typically have 60 days to formally notify Kohberger if they plan to seek the death penalty.
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Idaho recently amended its death penalty law
Idaho has the death penalty and, under a new law passed earlier this year, state officials could seek to have Kohberger executed by either lethal injection or a firing squad if convicted by a jury and sentenced to death. Several supporters say that death sentences currently are ineffective in Idaho because it has been unable to get the drugs needed to carry out lethal injections, the only legal method of capital punishment in Idaho.
Idaho became the fifth U.S. state to adopt executions by firing squad. Utah was reportedly the last U.S. state to carry out a firing squad execution in 2010.
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Expert says using firing squad for executions sends ‘brutal message’
One expert, Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit, told USA TODAY in March he believes Idaho’s actions are a step backward and send a “brutal message.”
Dieter said a firing squad “reverts to older methods of execution” that’s considered cruel and unusual punishment. He added that Idaho could face numerous challenges in court.
“I think this is an effort by Idaho to put pressure on pharmaceutical companies and the medical community to provide the drugs and expertise they need to carry out executions with lethal injections,” said Dieter, who added that 18 executions occurred in the U.S. last year, all by lethal injections.
About seven of those 18 executions had some sort of botch either when execution teams were unable to set IV lines that led to either canceled executions or delays for several hours, Dieter said.
Previous court docs say Kohberger’s DNA is a match
Kohberger, who was indicted by a grand jury last month, is set for trial on Oct. 2.
Court documents filed last week said that DNA from a swab of Kohberger’s cheek has been directly tied to the DNA on the knife sheath. Investigators announced previously that they had linked DNA found at the murder scene to DNA from Kohberger’s father pulled from trash at the family home in Pennsylvania.
Kohberger is scheduled to appear in an Idaho courtroom for a hearing Tuesday afternoon as a judge is expected to hear arguments based on several motions tied to the case. Among them include Kohberger’s defense attorneys seeking prosecutors to turn over more evidence about the DNA linking Kohberger to the murders as well as details about his recent grand jury indictment.
USA TODAY
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