|
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson made the claim in a motion
filed in the case this week.
"Instead of challenging the conclusion that the DNA on the knife
sheath belonged to Defendant, the defense’s expert disclosures
reveal that the defense plans to argue the DNA on the knife
sheath does not prove Defendant was ever at the crime scene and
the knife sheath itself could have been planted by the real
perpetrator," Thompson wrote.
Many of the court documents detailing both sides' plans for
expert witnesses have been sealed, so it's not currently
possible to compare Thompson's characterization of the defense
plans against the defense team's own court filings.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of
Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves,
students who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022,
at a rental home near their campus in Moscow, Idaho.
When asked to enter a plea last year, Kohberger stood silent,
prompting a judge to enter a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty if
Kohberger is convicted.
Prosecutors have said they matched “touch DNA” found on a knife
sheath near one of the victims to DNA taken from Kohberger using
investigative genetic genealogy, or IGG techniques. Defense
attorney Anne Taylor pushed to have the investigative genetic
genealogy thrown out of the case, but 4th District Judge Steven
Hippler denied that request last month.
Still, prosecutors say they don't intend to refer to the IGG
evidence during the trial and will instead tell jurors that a
“tip” led them to Kohberger as a suspect.
Kohberger's trial is scheduled to begin August 11 and expected
to last more than three months.
All contents © copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights
reserved |
|
