Idaho murders prosecutors' plan to undercut suspect Bryan Kohberger's alibi based on the moon and stars
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Idaho prosecutors appear poised to use weather records to pour cold water on Bryan Kohberger's bizarre alibi for the night that four students were murdered in a home in Moscow.
The 30-year-old criminology PhD student is facing the death penalty when he goes on trial this summer for the murders of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves back on November 13, 2022.
The four University of Idaho students were brutally stabbed to death in the early hours of the morning in the off-campus home the three young women shared with two other roommates.
To date, Kohberger has only offered up a vague alibi explaining his movements that night.
He has claimed, in court filings for the defense, that he was driving around alone late at night on November 12 and into the morning of November 13.
According to a court document in April 2024, the defense claimed he would often go out driving alone in the middle of the night 'to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars.'
On the night of the slayings, Kohberger 'drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park,' the defense wrote.
But, prosecutors look set to fight back against his alibi.
A new filing in the case revealed that prosecutors plan to introduce National Weather Service records for November 12 and 13, 2022, as evidence.
According to Fox Weather meteorologist and digital producer Andrew Wulfeck, the records for those dates will show that the area was shrouded in low clouds, fog and reduced visibility at the time of the murders.
'In addition to the fog, the cloud deck appeared to be fairly low, which again likely contributed to it not being the greatest night for types of activities such as stargazing, if you weren't able to find a break in the clouds,' he told Fox News.
Wulfeck added that the fog and clouds had also been forecast prior to that night.
Kohberger's defense attorney Anne Taylor has previously admitted in a court filing that there are no witnesses who can corroborate his alternative version of where he was at the time.
Instead, the defense plans to provide testimony from a cellphone expert to show he was not in the area around the student home at 1122 King Road when the massacre unfolded.
According to prosecutors, Kohberger's white Elantra was captured on surveillance footage circling the student home, then speeding off moments after the murders.
Prosecutors are asking that Kohberger be forced to take the stand at his trial if he wants to present his alibi to jurors.
'The Court should enter an order prohibiting the Defendant from presenting any evidence other than from the Defendant himself, whether by direct or cross-examination, in support of any claimed alibi regarding “the specific place or places at which the Defendant claims to have been at the time of the alleged offense,”' the state argued in a recent filing.
Kohberger's defense, meanwhile, is asking the judge to block the weather records - along with a slew of other evidence from his trial.
In a new motion filed Monday, the accused killer's defense attacked a trove of evidence in the prosecution's case, arguing that much of it is too broad and its relevance unclear.
As part of this, the defense took aim at surveillance footage from the night of the murders, his Venmo and Paypal activity, and his and the victims' bank records.
It is not clear what the contents of these records show or what relevance they may have to the prosecution's case.
The filing also points to a purchase made by Kohberger at sportswear company Under Armor on June 24 2022 - five months before the grisly murders.
The same month, Kohberger made a purchase from Dick's Sporting Goods, the records show.
The document does not reveal what exactly Kohberger bought from either store.
According to the filing, the defense also wants to stop prosecutors from presenting Kohberger's student records from DeSales University in Pennsylvania, where he obtained a Master's degree in psychology.
While at DeSales, the accused mass murderer studied under Dr Katherine Ramsland - a leading expert on the notorious BTK serial killer Dennis Rader.
There, as part of his thesis, he sent out a questionnaire delving into an individual's thoughts and feelings while committing a crime.
After graduating from DeSales, in summer 2022, Kohberger enrolled on a criminology PhD program at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington - just over the border from Moscow, Idaho.
Kohberger's legal team has already tried unsuccessfully to have critical DNA evidence and his Amazon shopping history tossed from the case.
According to prosecutors, Kohberger broke into the off-campus student home at around 4am on November 13, 2022, and killed the victims in a brutal knife attack.
Surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen came face-to-face with a tall masked intruder, dressed all in black and with 'bushy eyebrows' who walked past her bedroom door and headed toward the back sliding door of the home.
Mortensen and the only other survivor, roommate Bethany Funke, frantically text and called each other about the incident.
Multiple calls and messages were made to the victims - but they all went unanswered.
Just before midday - around eight hours later - a 911 call was made and the bloodbath was discovered.
Investigators found a brown leather Ka-Bar knife sheath, featuring a US Marine Corps seal, next to Mogen's lifeless body in her bedroom on the third floor of the home.
Touch DNA on the sheath was traced back to Kohberger using Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG), according to prosecutors.
Following his arrest, testing showed it to be a statistical match.
Amazon records show Kohberger bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath and sharpener from the site back in March 2022 - eight months before the murders, according to court documents.
Kohberger's Amazon history also reveals that he searched for a replacement knife or sheath in the days after the murders, according to prosecutors.
As well as the DNA evidence, cellphone records also allegedly show that Kohberger may have stalked the King Road home at least a dozen times in the lead-up to the murders - and that he turned his phone off while committing the crime to try to cover his tracks.
After the judge struck down attempts to get the DNA evidence and Amazon shopping history thrown out, the defense is now expected to argue that the evidence was planted by the real killer at the scene - framing him for the shocking crime.
Kohberger's defense is also arguing that there were multiple killers that fateful night, claiming that one individual could not possibly have killed all four within such a short timeframe.
His defense also claims he has a physical condition that would have made it impossible for him to kill four in the roughly 13-minute timeframe - as he vows to point to several alternate suspects at his trial.
Kohberger's team has previously pointed to other DNA evidence found at the scene that does not belong to the suspect - including the blood from two mystery men, one on the handrail of a stairwell and the other on a glove found outside.
A three-person mixture of DNA was also found under Mogen's nails, with testing coming back inconclusive for Kohberger and several other individuals.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in the Poconos region of Pennsylvania on December 30, 2022, and was charged with the four murders.
A not guilty plea was entered on his behalf at his arraignment.
After more than two years, his trial is finally set to get under way in Ada County in August.
Kohberger faces the death penalty if convicted - an outcome that has been welcomed by some of the victims' families.
Due to changes in state law, he could be executed by firing squad.
Kohberger is next due in court in April.
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