Idaho prosecutors make their decision on death penalty in Bryan Kohberger case
.jpg "Prosecutors decided Monday to pursue the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students in November.")
Prosecutors decided Monday to pursue the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with murdering four University of Idaho students in November.
The state found several aggravating factors to the stabbing deaths, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson wrote in a court record filed Monday. Idaho law requires such elements to exist beyond a first-degree murder charge to pursue capital punishment.
The prosecution did not receive any information from the defense or find any facts in the case that they think would restrict them from pursuing the death penalty for Kohberger, Thompson wrote. “Consequently, considering all evidence currently known to the state, the state is compelled to file this notice,” he said.
The four victims were U of I seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncavles, both 21; and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20. Police found their bodies on Nov. 13 at an off-campus home where the three women lived with two other housemates, who went unharmed. Chapin was Kernodle’s boyfriend and stayed over for the night.
What qualifies for death penalty in Idaho?
The quadruple homicide incident in Moscow included more than one murder, Thompson noted — the first of five such aggravating factors he listed in the court record. The prosecution also determined the murders were “especially heinous, atrocious, or cruel, manifesting exceptional depravity,” quoting from Idaho law.
In addition, Thompson wrote, Kohberger “exhibited utter disregard for human life” — another of the possible elements the state needs to prove for the 28-year-old former graduate student of criminology at Washington State University to be sentenced to death by a jury.
The four murders also were committed in the midst of another crime, Thompson wrote. Kohberger is charged with one count of felony burglary, on top of four counts of first-degree murder.
Finally, because of his alleged actions, Kohberger “has exhibited a propensity to commit murder, which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society,” the filing read.
Were a jury to convict Kohberger at trial — currently scheduled to start Oct. 2 — it need only determine one aggravating factor exist in the deaths of the four victims. Jurors’ decision must be unanimous.
Reached by the Idaho Statesman by email through attorney Shanon Gray, the Goncalves family thanked Thompson for his decision to seek a death sentence for Kohberger.
“The Goncalves family is grateful that the prosecutor’s office is pursuing the death penalty,” the statement read. “There is no one more deserving than the defendant in this case. We continue to pray for all the victims’ families and appreciate all the support we have received.”
Members of the Chapin, Mogen and Kernodle families did not respond to the Statesman’s requests for comment.
Kohberger ‘definitely a death penalty case’
The decision by prosecutors to pursue capital punishment in the case came as no surprise to Jessica Bublitz, a Boise-based criminal defense attorney.
“I’m sure they had this in mind from the very beginning,” Bublitz told the Statesman by phone. “Because of the heinous nature of the crime, and because it was more than one individual at a time who was murdered in such a horrible way, I think all those facts made me think this was definitely a death penalty case.”
The prosecution had 60 days from the date a plea was entered in the Kohberger case to submit the filing, known as a notice of intent to seek the death penalty. When asked for a plea at his May 22 arraignment, Kohberger stood silent, which automatically led Judge John Judge of Idaho’s 2nd District Judicial Court in Latah County to convert the choice to not guilty.
Idaho is one of 24 states in the U.S. that maintains active capital punishment. The state’s preferred execution method is lethal injection, while a law passed earlier this year takes effect July 1 to make a firing squad Idaho’s backup method.
This story was originally published June 26, 2023 at 1:57 PM with the headline "Idaho prosecutors make their decision on death penalty in Bryan Kohberger case."
