Expert will testify on cellphone data behind Idaho killing suspect Bryan Kohberger’s alibi

Lawyers representing Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the killing of four University of Idaho students, plan to call in an expert on cellphone tower data to bolster his claim of being far away from the scene of the crime when the victims were stabbed to death in November 2022, according to a court document filed by the defense.

Kohberger’s attorneys beat a Wednesday deadline with an alibi defense filing that provided details of their client’s purported whereabouts at the time of the homicides, as required by Idaho law. Kohberger, 29, is facing quadruple-murder charges.

“Mr. Kohberger was out driving in the early morning hours of Nov. 13, 2022; as he often did to hike and run and/or see the moon and stars,” said the affidavit, signed by lead attorney Anne Taylor. “He drove throughout the area south of Pullman, Washington, west of Moscow, Idaho, including Wawawai Park.”

The park is nearly 30 miles from the off-campus house on King Road in Moscow where the students were killed overnight, and about 20 miles from Kohberger’s apartment in Pullman.

A trial date has not been set.

Who is Bryan Kohberger?

Kohberger was a doctorate student in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, about 10 miles west of Moscow, where the University of Idaho is located. After a manhunt of more than six weeks, he was arrested in late December 2022 while visiting his family in Pennsylvania, and extradited to Idaho.

A plea of not guilty was entered for Kohberger when he declined to offer one.

Kohberger’s lawyers have portrayed him as an avid nighttime explorer who mixed in countryside drives with hikes and runs. They are seeking a change of venue, arguing he can’t get a fair trial in Latah County, the northwestern Idaho home of Moscow, because of the intense publicity the case has received.

Besides the murder charges, Kohberger is facing a count of burglary.

Police say he once posted a Reddit survey asking participants for information to “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime.’’

What's the evidence against him?

Prosecutors say Kohberger’s DNA is a “statistical match’’ to the DNA picked up from a leather knife sheath found at the scene of the stabbings.

In addition, they have linked surveillance video from that early morning to his car, a white Hyundai Elantra seen speeding away at 4:20 a.m. from the area around the house where the bodies were found. Police estimated the homicides took place between 4 and 4:25 a.m.

Authorities also say Kohberger’s cellphone signal was picked up 14 times in the cellphone tower coverage area where the victims lived, two of those on the day there were killed. The signal was also detected near his home at about 2:47 a.m. the morning of the killings, but not anywhere again until 4:48 a.m. They said criminals often turn off their cellphones or put them on airplane mode “in an effort to avoid alerting law enforcement that a cellular device associated with them was in a particular area where a crime is committed.’’

Who were the victims?

Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, were seniors who had been friends since the sixth grade. Juniors Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, 20, had been dating for months. Police say the first three lived at the house where they were found dead, and that Chapin was spending the night when they were killed.