A judge in Idaho has determined that prosecutors are obligated to disclose “a portion” of the genetic genealogy evidence that was employed to connect Bryan Kohberger to the 2022 murders of four University of Idaho students.
For several months, Bryan Kohberger has been engaged in a legal dispute with the court, urging prosecutors to release investigative genetic genealogy information. According to a report by Newsweek, District Court Judge John Judge issued an order last week mandating that prosecutors provide some of this evidence.
Accused Idaho Killer Will Receive Some Of The DNA Genealogy Evidence He Has Been Requesting https://t.co/muyjb48yLs #BreakingNews #Breaking #News pic.twitter.com/2DqrqKXO30
— Brett Murphy (@bmurphypointman) January 17, 2024
The attorneys representing the suspect are attempting to cast doubt on the DNA evidence that connects the suspect to the crimes. The suspect faces charges of four counts of murder and one count of burglary in connection with the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen during the early morning hours of November 13, 2022, in the college town of Moscow.
The prosecution has contended that they were not obligated to provide extensive details regarding the utilization of genetic genealogy to establish the link between the suspect and the crimes. Their argument is based on the fact that a DNA sample provided by the suspect directly matched DNA discovered on a knife sheath recovered at the crime scene. According to the prosecution, genetic genealogy will not be employed as evidence during the trial.
After identifying the suspect, law enforcement located him at his parents’ residence in Pennsylvania and retrieved garbage from the bins outside. From this collected garbage, they obtained DNA that showed a partial match with the DNA previously gathered from the knife sheath. This partial match indicated that the DNA belonged to the suspect’s father.
Subsequently, obtaining DNA directly from the suspect conclusively linked him to the sheath. The sheath itself was discovered on a bed beside the bodies of Goncalves and Mogen, partially concealed beneath one of them. It was determined that the type of knife accommodated by the sheath aligned with the weapon used in the murder of all four victims.
According to CBS News, Anne Taylor, the defense attorney, has consistently contended that the prosecution has failed to furnish complete DNA information pertaining to the crime.
Prosecutors responded by asserting that they had already provided all the information within their possession.
In July, the defense attorneys representing the suspect asserted that there might have been an attempt by the police to plant their client’s DNA at the crime scene. However, they were unable to provide a plausible explanation for why their client would have been singled out as a target for the crime.
In a court filing submitted in June, Jay Weston Logsdon, the suspect’s other attorney, lodged a motion opposing the prosecutor’s efforts to withhold a comprehensive explanation of the techniques employed by authorities to connect the accused to the homicides through genetic genealogy.
Logsdon stated in the motion that investigators discovered DNA from three additional men in the off-campus residence where Chapin, Goncalves, Kernodle and Mogen were tragically killed.
