Bryan Kohberger’s lawyers claimed in a new alibi filing that cell phone data will show the accused killer was miles away from Moscow, Idaho the night four University of Idaho students were slain in an off-campus house.
“Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,” the court filing, submitted late Wednesday, reads.
“He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho including Wawawai Park.”
Pullman, Washington is about 10 miles west of Moscow, Idaho and Wawawai Park is a roughly 40-minute drive from the murder scene.
Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen in the early hours of Nov 13, 2022 inside a rental house near the Moscow campus.
The defense claimed the 29-year-old criminology student’s grueling academic schedule forced him to not only cut down on the time he spent hiking and running, but to instead indulge in the outdoor hobbies at night.
An expert witness in cell phone data will testify that cell towers showed “Kohberger’s mobile device was 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-Pullman Highway in the early morning hours of November 13th, and thus could not be the vehicle captured on video along the Moscow-Pullman highway near Floyd’s Cannabis shop,” according to the court filing.
Prosecutors have claimed that Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra was the car captured on video driving by the students’ Moscow home at least four times on the morning of the murders.
Investigators have also alleged Kohberger’s phone pinged in the area of the home that morning.
The defense team had long claimed Kohberger was out driving alone on the night of the murders, but has declined to offer specifics.
His attorneys emphasized they have more details on Kohberger’s whereabouts the night of the murders, but threatened to hold the information until the state shares more discovery as requested.
“If not disclosed, [cell phone tower expert Sly Ray]’s testimony will also reveal that critical exculpatory evidence, further corroborating Mr. Kohberger’s alibi, was either not preserved or has been withheld.”
Kohberger allegedly broke into the off-campus house around 4 a.m. and stabbed the four friends to death.
At the time of the killings, Kohberger was a PhD student of criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, about 9 miles west of Moscow over the state line.
After a seven-week manhunt, he was arrested on Dec. 30 during a raid on his family’s home in Pennsylvania, where a white Hyundai Elantra was also recovered.
Kohberger’s defense team has long argued that the indictment has insufficient evidence. Their past attempt to have the case thrown out was also denied.
They have been accused of filing endless motions to prolong going to trial.
The next motion hearing is May 14th, when the judge will consider the change of venue motion from the defense and their motion to compel the discovery.
