Bryan Kohberger case: Lawyers fight death penalty for fatally stabbing University of Idaho students

BOISE, Idaho — Bryan Kohberger’s defense team is pushing to overturn the death penalty.

Kohberger is a former criminology Ph.D. The student at nearby Washington State University was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in connection with the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students — Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle. and Ethan Chapin, 20.

They were killed in an off-campus house in the early hours of November 13, 2022.

On Thursday, the suspect’s lawyers will argue that the prosecutor’s insistence on the death penalty violates both the Constitution and Kohberger’s rights.

In the state of Idaho, executions by firing squad are allowed if lethal injection drugs are not available.

Kohberger’s defense team pointed to this law, saying lethal injection was “not valid.”

“The defense argues that it was a lack of choice, but being forced to have a firing squad was a violation of Brian Kohberger’s eighth amendment, which deals with cruel and unusual punishment,” said Brian Buckmire, legal correspondent for ABC News. he said.

Last month, the Idaho Supreme Court decided to move the trial from Latah County to Boise after the defense requested a change of venue.

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The defense successfully argued that Kohberger would not have an impartial jury in Moscow, citing extensive media coverage that tainted the jury pool.

The hearing, which will begin on August 7, 2025, is expected to last until November 7, 2025.