Bryan Kohberger arraignment: Judge enters not guilty pleas for Idaho quadruple murder suspect
MOSCOW, Idaho - A judge entered pleas of not guilty to all charges for Bryan Kohberger at his arraignment Monday, setting the stage for a quadruple murder trial in which he could potentially face the death penalty.
Latah County, Idaho deputies escorted Kohberger into the courtroom around 9 a.m., where he stood before Judge John Judge.
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The defendant, wearing an orange jumpsuit and no handcuffs, smiled at his defense attorney, Kootenai County Public Defender Anne Taylor, and sat quietly. He nodded as Judge read his rights aloud.
Taylor said they would "be standing silent," so Judge entered the not guilty pleas for the charges against Kohberger. A 60-day death penalty countdown began during Monday's hearing.
The judge set the trial date for Oct. 2, although it could be delayed.
The arraignment kicks off a six-month countdown for the start of his trial, meaning it could begin in November at the latest, roughly a year after the slayings, according to Edwina Elcox, a Boise-based defense attorney who has been following the case.
Kohberger is being held without bail at the Latah County Jail in Moscow, Idaho.
The Nov. 13, 2022, killings stunned the rural community and prompted many students to leave campus early, switching to remote learning for the remainder of the semester.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, was arrested late last year and charged with burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in connection with with the slayings of Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at a rental home near the University of Idaho campus.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the women's two other roommates in Kaylee Goncalves' final Instagram post, shared the day before the slayings. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
He was a graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time, but prosecutors have not released any information about how he may have chosen the victims or whether he had met any of them previously.
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Police released few details about the investigation until after Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in eastern Pennsylvania early Dec. 30, 2022.
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Court documents detailed how police pieced together DNA evidence, cellphone data and surveillance video that they say links Kohberger to the slayings.
Investigators said traces of DNA found on a knife sheath inside the home where the students were killed matches Kohberger, and that a cellphone belonging to Kohberger was near the victims’ home on a dozen occasions prior to the killings.
A white sedan allegedly matching one owned by Kohberger was caught on surveillance footage repeatedly cruising past the rental home around the time of the killings.
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Kernodle, Chapin, Mogen and Goncalves were friends and members of the university’s Greek system, and the three women lived together in the rental home just across the street from campus. Chapin — Kernodle’s boyfriend — was there visiting on the night of the attack.
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson now has 60 days to inform the court whether he will seek the death penalty in the case.
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Bryan Christopher Kohberger is seen for the first time since his arrest Friday outside the Monroe County Courthouse in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania. He is accused of the Moscow, Idaho, quadruple homicide. (Fox News Digital)