Court documents released in case against Idaho student killings suspect
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Dakin Andone, CNN
(CNN) — Idaho officials have publicly released court documents in prosecutors’ case against Bryan Kohberger, who faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the killings of four University of Idaho undergraduate students.
CNN is currently reviewing the documents, which include the probable cause affidavit used to justify Kohberger’s arrest and obtain a warrant.
The release comes as Kohberger, 28, is scheduled to make an initial court appearance Thursday at 9:30 a.m. PT (12:30 p.m. ET) in Idaho, after he was extradited from his home state of Pennsylvania and booked into the Latah County, Idaho, jail Wednesday night.
Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania last Friday, almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found fatally stabbed in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
When the suspect appears in court, the first hearing would involve a judge deciding whether Kohberger has adequate legal representation and scheduling additional court dates, including an arraignment.
The initial appearance could paved the way for authorities to release the probable cause affidavit, which has so far been sealed pending his return to Idaho.
Authorities have yet to release key details in the case, like whether they believe Kohberger knew the victims or what his alleged motive might have been. That has been due, in part, to state law, which limits what information authorities can release before a suspect makes an initial appearance in court, Moscow Police Chief James Fry said last week.
A court order prohibits the prosecution and defense from commenting beyond referencing the public records of the case.
The affidavit will “tell us an awful lot,” CNN legal analyst and criminal defense attorney Joey Jackson told CNN earlier this week, namely, “Why is he under arrest, what is the justification for holding him and for going after him from a prosecution perspective.”
Kohberger is a PhD student in the criminal justice program at Washington State University’s campus in Pullman, about a 15-minute drive west of Moscow.
Investigators focused on Kohberger as a suspect after tracing to him ownership of a white Hyundai Elantra, which had been seen in the area of the killings, to him, according to two law enforcement sources briefed on the investigation. His DNA was also matched to genetic material recovered at the home where the students were found dead on November 13, the sources said.
Before his arrest, Kohberger drove home to Pennsylvania for the holidays accompanied by his father, arriving around December 17, per Monroe County Chief Public Defender Jason LaBar, who said the white Elantra authorities had been looking for in connection with the killings was found at Kohberger’s parents’ house.
Kohberger received a new license plate for a white Elantra five days after the killings, The New York Times reported, citing licensing documents released by Washington state on Wednesday.
CNN has contacted the Washington State Department of Licensing for comment.