How Did an Idaho Judge Deal a Setback to Bryan Kohberger’s Defense with Ruling on DNA?

Mar. 15, 2025

Bryan Kohberger.Photo:Ted S. Warren-Pool/Getty

Ted S. Warren-Pool/Getty

The judge overseeing the high-profile upcoming trialagainst the man charged with killing four University of Idaho studentsin 2022 issued a major blow to his defense on Wednesday.

Kohberger’s lawyers had been attempting to exclude evidence that potentially connects Kohberger to the crime scene, as well as attempting to exclude data linked to Kohberger’s various Internet accounts, plus other evidence, perABC News.

Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.Courtesy of Chapin Family; Maddie Mogen/Instagram; Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram; Xana Kernodle/Instagram

Courtesy of Chapin Family; Maddie Mogen/Instagram; Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram; Xana Kernodle/Instagram

Kohberger’s defense team had argued that their client’s constitutional rights were violated when law enforcement used a technique called Investigative Genetic Genealogy (IGG). IGG compares a DNA sample with public data from relatives in a genetic genealogy database, effectively laying out a “family tree” and helping officials close in on a suspect. The use of this technology led officials in the direction of Kohberger — with the help of his DNA, which was allegedly found on the button snap of a knife sheath left at the scene, per ABC News.

KIRO7reported that Hippler stated in his ruling that there is “no reasonable expectation of privacy in identity” and that “even if [Kohberger’s] DNA analysis revealed sensitive personal details, there is no reasonable expectation of privacy in crime scene DNA.”

Hippler also nixed motions to exclude digital evidence linked to Kohberger’s various online accounts (Google, Apple, and Amazon), as well as his cellphone data. Hippler also ruled that police acted properly when they collected trash as evidence from the Pennsylvania home of Kohberger’s parents.

In denying all of the defense’s requests to suppress evidence, the judge laid the foundation for the prosecution to present their case against Kohberger to a jury this summer.

Kohberger is accused of stabbing to death Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, in an off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022.

Goncalves, Mogen and Kernodle lived together at the Moscow home where the murders took place, along withtwo surviving roommates, and Chapin was staying over for the night with his girlfriend, Kernodle.

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Kohberger stood silentwhen asked to enter a plea in 2023, leading a judge to enter a not guilty plea on his behalf. His trial is currently slated to begin in August. He could face the death penalty if convicted.

source: people.com