Idaho court denies Kohberger appeal to delay murder trial

The Idaho Supreme Court on Tuesday denied a pretrial appeal from attorneys representing Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students.

The appeal stood to delay his murder trial further if granted. Kohberger’s public defenders had argued that a grand jury sat by prosecutors for the case improperly indicted their client on four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.

They contended that Idaho law left open the idea that grand jurors must reach the higher legal standard of beyond a reasonable doubt — the same as at trial to convict a defendant — rather than the longstanding threshold of probable cause to indict.

In the one-page Supreme Court ruling issued Tuesday afternoon, the justices offered no legal rationale for their denial of the motion to appeal from Kohberger’s attorneys. The document was signed by Melanie Gagnepain, clerk of the Idaho Supreme Court.

The appellate case is now closed, state courts spokesperson Nate Poppino told the Idaho Statesman.

The justices took just over a month to dismiss the appeal after Kohberger’s attorneys filed under seal in early February. Prosecutors opposed the appeal, also under seal, on Feb. 20.

Kohberger, 29, is accused of stabbing the four UI students to death at an off-campus home in Moscow in November 2022. The student victims were seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20.

Kohberger, at the time a graduate student at nearby Washington State University, faces the death penalty if convicted by a jury.

Kevin Fixler is an investigative reporter with the Idaho Statesman.