A judge overseeing the University of Idaho quadruple murder case has ordered prosecutors to turn over DNA records to Bryan Kohberger’s defence.
Mr Kohberger, the sole suspect in the 13 November 2022 stabbings, was arrested seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin were found brutally murdered in their off-campus home in the town of Moscow. According to an affidavit for his arrest, genealogy databases yielded a link to Mr Kohberger from DNA on a knife sheath found next to Mogen’s body.
For months, the defence fought to obtain all the information about those DNA records, arguing that it essentially led to the capture of their client. On Thursday, Judge John Judge ordered in favour of the defence motion to compel discovery.
However, only a portion of the IGG (Investigative genetic genealogy) information is subject to the defence request. It remains unclear the specific material set to be released as it is outlined in a sealed order to protect the privacy of individuals on Mr Kohberger’s family tree.
“The court has now completed its review of the information provided by the State and orders the State to discover to the defence a portion of the IGG information,” the judge wrote in the ruling.
Mr Kohberger’s attorneys have cast doubts about the use of genealogy DNA in the case. In August, the defence submitted an affidavit by a DNA expert who argued the science behind genetic genealogy is not always flawless.
Prosecutors then contested that the DNA profile created from the knife sheath evidence, which produced a link to Mr Kohberger through somebody in his family line, was not the only evidence used to secure Mr Kohberger’s arrest.
Mr Kohberger was also tied to the scene of the crime through cellphone data and surveillance video that placed his Hyundai Electra near the victims’ home around the time of the murders, according to the affidavit unsealed last year.
At the time of the murders, Mr Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University, which is a short drive from the scene of the killings across the state border. He was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on 30 December 2022.
Although an initial trial date had been set for October, several motions filed in the case have delayed the proceedings.
Last month, prosecutors asked the judge that a new date be set for summer 2024.
