Idaho student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger plans to fight the grand jury indictment against him in the November home invasion stabbing deaths of four undergrads, and his lawyers have asked the court to stay proceedings as they wrestle with prosecutors over the disclosure of more materials, according to new court filings.
Police arrested Kohberger, 28, about seven weeks after they allege he snuck into an off-campus rental home and killed Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20 and Ethan Chapin, also 20.
Judge John Judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger's behalf at his arraignment last month when the defendant chose to "stand silent."
In court filings, Kootenai County Public Defender Anne Taylor explained the move was intended to "preserve his right to contest the indictment."
IDAHO MURDERS: BRYAN KOHBERGER'S DEFENSE STANDS SILENT AT ARRAIGNMENT, JUDGE ENTERS NOT GUILTY PLEAS
"Mr. Kohberger has the right and intends to contest the indictment," Taylor explained in a motion to stay proceedings last week amid a standoff with prosecutors as she seeks to obtain grand jury materials.
In order to fight the indictment, she explained, the defense wants additional grand jury materials that prosecutors have not handed over.
"Mr. Kohberger seeks to stay the proceedings as appropriate relief while the matter of the grand jury record is argued and prepared," Taylor wrote. "He is exercising due diligence to discover the grounds upon which to file a motion to dismiss related to how the grand jury was selected. He is being delayed through no fault of his own."
Prosecutors from Latah County and the state attorney general's office countered that Kohberger's argument "is misplaced" and "deficient" under state law.
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"Defendant asks this Court to put the cart before the horse — stay the case now, and Defendant will give the Court a basis for the stay later," prosecutors wrote in their objection. "The Court should decline to adopt this backward reading of the requirements of Idaho Code §2-213. Defendant’s motion should be denied."
The lengthy investigation involved police in multiple states and help from the FBI. According to court documents, police recovered DNA from a Ka-Bar knife sheath discovered next to Mogen's body that helped lead them to Kohberger's parents' home in Pennsylvania's Pocono Mountains.
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Police arrested him there on Dec. 30, 2022. Through his attorney in Pennsylvania before he waived extradition to Idaho, he said that he was "eager to be exonerated."
He entered no plea at his initial appearance, and Taylor's office had planned to challenge the probable cause used for his arrest warrant in a preliminary hearing originally scheduled for June 26.
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However, a grand jury handed down a superseding indictment last month on four counts of first-degree murder and a felony burglary charge, meaning the preliminary hearing was no longer necessary.
"The defense is going to ultimately get a lot of the information related to the Grand Jury, as long as there is a legal basis," said Edwina Elcox, a prominent Boise-based defense attorney whose past clients have included Lori Vallow. "In order to determine if there is a challenge to any of jurors or the entire panel, they have to have the information related to the people that made up the Grand Jury."
She told Fox News Digital the delivery of that information to the defense would likely require a court order.
Kohberger has a master's degree in criminal justice and was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University, which is less than 10 miles from the University of Idaho campus and where the slayings took place.
Judge set a hearing on the defense motion for June 27.
Kohberger is being held without bail at the Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho.
He could face the death penalty if convicted. Trial is scheduled to begin on Oct. 2 and could take up to six weeks.
