Biden appointee added to prosecution in Bryan Kohberger’s Idaho student murder trial

BOISE (Idaho Statesman) — A former U.S. attorney for Idaho has joined the team prosecuting Idaho college student homicide defendant Bryan Kohberger.

Josh Hurwit, 44, chosen by former President Joe Biden for his prior role, left the appointed position in February in the transition to President Donald Trump. Now Hurwit will assist in the state’s case against the lone suspect in the high-profile capital murder trial, according to a court filing that disclosed his addition.

Hurwit declined to comment on his new duties in the Kohberger case when reached by the Idaho Statesman on Thursday. While still U.S. attorney, he worked closely with the FBI, and previously declined to comment on the quadruple homicide case. The FBI helped Moscow police and Idaho State Police with arriving at Kohberger as the suspect.

Led by Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, the state intends to seek the death penalty for Kohberger if a jury finds him guilty of the four murder charges he faces at trial, scheduled for this summer in Boise. Hurwit also previously declined to comment on Idaho’s new law that will make a firing squad the state’s lead execution method starting next year.

“I’m unable to engage on that case or that issue,” Hurwit said in a text message last month after he departed the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Kohberger, 30, is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and a count of felony burglary. At the time of the November 2022 quadruple homicide, he was a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington, just over the Idaho state line and 9 miles from Moscow.

The four University of Idaho student victims were Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington. The three women lived in the off-campus Moscow home with two other young women who went physically unharmed, while Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and stayed over for the night.

Hurwit, a Harvard Law School graduate, brings additional cachet to the team prosecuting Kohberger after his two-plus years as the lead federal attorney in Idaho.

Former Idaho U.S. Attorney Bart Davis during President Donald Trump’s first term had Hurwit on his staff at the time. In a phone interview, Davis told the Statesman that he remained confident in Hurwit’s abilities, describing him as “very bright and very diligent in his attention to details.”

“We certainly had him helping on very complex litigation, and I was very proud to have him in our office and proud to be associated with his efforts,” Davis said. “I personally found him to be impactful in any matter we asked him to be involved.”

The Kohberger prosecution’s other attorneys include Deputy Attorney General Jeff Nye, as well as Ashley Jennings, Thompson’s senior deputy prosecuting attorney in Latah County.

Last week, a different court filing showed the addition of Idaho Deputy Attorney General Madison Allen, 31, to the prosecution team for the jury selection process, which is set to start July 30. The trial is scheduled to begin Aug. 11.

Allen joined the Attorney General’s Office in September 2023, according to her LinkedIn profile. Her supervisor in the office was former Idaho Deputy Attorney General Ingrid Batey, who worked as a special prosecutor appointed to the Kohberger case until she left to join the Canyon County Prosecutor’s Office in January,

Batey told the Statesman by email. Batey declined to comment further, citing the active gag order in the case.

Kohberger is next due in court on April 9 for a hearing on motions to limit a variety of evidence and two additional attempts by the defense to drop the death penalty as a sentencing option if he is convicted at trial.

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