Bryan Kohberger Prosecutor Likely to Push for Death Penalty: Legal Expert

The Idaho district attorney’s office will most likely push for the death penalty against accused murder suspect Bryan Kohberger for the deaths of four University of Idaho students due to “overwhelming” amount of evidence, former prosecutor Matt Murphy said on Friday.

While speaking to NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas, Murphy was asked how difficult it’ll be to decide whether or not to seek the death penalty in this case. Murphy responded, “A prosecutor under these circumstances will weigh the aggravating versus mitigating circumstances. It’s essentially the same job that a jury will be asked to do. And this case is so overwhelmingly awful, for lack of a better term, I think there’s going to be a lot of pressure within the DA’s office to actually seek the death penalty.”

Kohberger, 28, is accused of breaking into an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, in the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, and stabbing four University of Idaho students: Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20, to death. He was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one felony count of burglary, and was indicted by a grand jury earlier this month.

“The evidence against Bryan Kohberger is overwhelming, and that actually is a factor in that decision,” Murphy said. “I think this one is pretty clear…my guess is he’s [the district attorney] seeking the death penalty.”

A graduate student studying criminology at nearby Washington State University (WSU), Kohberger was arrested late last year at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania. A lawyer who represented Kohberger following his arrest previously said his client was “eager to be exonerated” in the case.

While in court for his arraignment hearing on Monday, Kohberger opted to “stand silent,” prompting the judge to enter not guilty pleas on his behalf. The murder suspect also declined to waive his right to a speedy trial. The judge scheduled the trial, which is expected to last up to six weeks, to begin October 2.

Meanwhile, former FBI agent Jennifer Coffindaffer took to Twitter on Saturday morning to discuss the death penalty in regard to Kohberger, writing, “The prosecution has only about 55 days left to decide. The clock is ticking.”

Criminal defense attorney Sara Azari also wrote on Saturday via Twitter that this case is death penalty eligible and “certainly heinous enough to support pursuit of DP [death penalty] which is about mitigating vs aggravating factors.”

“The strengths and overwhelming evidence (if all checks out) in Kohberger’s case certainly plays into decision of ID [Idaho] DA to seek DP as it’s a consideration for the jury,” she added. “A DP case is a bifurcated trial of 2 phases: guilt and penalty, both decided by jury. So far we know nothing about BK and what his mitigating factors are, if any. But in terms of agg factors there were multiple vulnerable victims, he may have laid in wait, the manner of killing was extraordinarily brutal, among other things.”

Newsweek has reached out to legal experts for comment via email.