Global Courant
Prosecutors will pursue the death penalty against the man charged with the quadruple murder of four Idaho students, according to court documents filed Monday.
In the filing, the Latah County prosecutor pointed to the “aggravating circumstances” in the Nov. 13 murders, described them as “particularly gruesome” and said defendant Bryan Kohberger, 28, was alleged to have “utter disregard for human life.” shown.
“Consequently, taking into account all evidence currently known to the State, the State is required to file this notice of intent to seek the death penalty,” the filing said.
Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30 in the fatal stabbing of Ethan Chapin, 20, of Conway, Washington; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Avondale, Arizona; and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum, Idaho.
After a grand jury indicted him in May, he was indicted on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary.
Kohberger, who was pursuing a doctorate in criminal justice at a nearby university at the time of his arrest, has pleaded not guilty.
In an interview with “TODAY,” Goncalves’ father described the prosecutor’s decision as a “great relief” that showed authorities were approaching the case from a position of strength.
“This is not something we’re going to have a party about,” added Steve Goncalves. “It’s not something we would ever look forward to or be a part of. But as a father, if you come after my child, I will do everything I can to make sure we go after you come.” .”
The four students were found dead in their off-campus home in Moscow, nearly 300 miles north of Boise.
Authorities linked Kohberger to the crime scene through cell phone signals, security camera video, a witness and a light brown leather knife sheathaccording to a probable statement filed in January.
In a June 16 filing, prosecutors said investigators also used genetic genealogy — a technique that combines shoe leather genealogy research with DNA analysis — after biological material found on a knife scabbard at the scene failed to match in an FBI database.
The tool was used to develop a family tree of hundreds of relatives to ultimately identify Kohberger as a suspect, the filing said.
In a filing last week, Kohberger’s attorney described the technique as a “bizarrely complex DNA tree experiment” and said there was “no connection” between his client and the four students.
Alex Lo, David K. Li, and Lauren Specter contributed.
