Kohberger Case: Attorneys Attempt to Delay Trial and Offer an Alternate Killer

The trial of Bryan Kohberger is current scheduled for August but there have been efforts by Kohberger’s lawyers to delay the trial because of a recent Dateline special that revealed new information about the case.

I wrote about the Dateline special on May 10, the day it aired. The special included new video of what appeared to be Kohberger’s car in the area of the house on the night of the murders, plus information about his search history, his Amazon buying history and cell phone data about his location.

Given that none of this information helped Kohberger’s case and seemed only to incriminate him, it seemed pretty clear that it must have been leaked to Dateline by someone close to the prosecution. Kohberger’s attorneys cited the special when requesting a delay of trial.

In a motion filed this week, the defense cites a recent “Dateline” NBC special, which aired on May 9, as a reason for the delay. It argues that the episode violates a gag order that has been in place since 2023. The episode included video footage, cell phone records, and photographs of documents that are not publicly available through official channels.

“The (Dateline) show repeatedly emphasizes the nonpublic nature of this information, stating it was obtained from unnamed sources who are close to the investigation,” the motion states. “Moving forward with a capital trial in August will infringe upon Mr. Kohberger’s constitutional rights, as counsel requires more time to review discovery, complete investigations, and prepare for trial.”

The defense was clearly trying to capitalize on the fact that the judge in the case was upset that someone had defied his gag order and leaked this information to the media. He even suggested he might appoint a special prosecutor to find out who did it.

Fourth District Judge Steven Hippler ordered prosecutors and defense attorneys on Wednesday to give him a list of everyone — including staffers, law enforcement officers and defense consultants — who might have had access to the previously unreported information about Kohberger’s internet search history and other details that were featured in an NBC “Dateline” episode that aired May 9.

The judge said he would be open to appointing a special prosecutor to track down the leak, which likely violated a gag order that has been in place since 2023…

Hippler wrote in court documents that it appeared likely that someone associated with law enforcement or the prosecution team violated the court’s gag order. The leak will potentially make it harder to seat an impartial jury, drawing out an already long and complicated court case and costing taxpayers more money, Hippler wrote.

Fox News reported that one Idaho lawyer thought it was possible the judge might decide the remedy for this behavior (assuming it could be pinned on the prosecution) would be to exclude the evidence leaked to Dateline.

Edwina Elcox, a criminal defense attorney in Boise, Idaho, told Fox News Digital she thinks Hippler is taking the leak very seriously.

“I think prosecutors/law enforcement will absolutely be held accountable,” Elcox said, noting she has worked on cases with Hippler as the judge.

Elcox said she “absolutely” thinks it’s possible for evidence presented during the TV episode to be excluded in court.

“Can you imagine if the remedy for this was all that evidence being excluded?” Elcox said. “I ABSOLUTELY think that is in the realm of remedies.”

So far Judge Hippler hasn’t announced anything like that but that’s probably because the leaker hasn’t been identified yet. There could be dramatic announcements ahead in the last weeks before the trial. Finally, the defense also seems to be reaching for a different theory of the crime in which some alternate person is responsible for the murders.

As part of the trial preparation for the suspect in the 2022 University of Idaho murders, Kohberger’s attorneys offered an “alternate perpetrators” theory during a May 15 hearing, suggesting one or more people other than Kohberger killed Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodlein their off-campus home.

Presiding judge Steven Hippler immediately sealed the file and called upon the defense team to offer up more evidence to support the theory, according to court footage shared by NBC News.

“It seemed to be much of what you put in there,” Hippler said in court, “was potentially fairly objectionable in terms of admissibility.”…

As Judge Hippler added, “Provide me with whatever actual evidence you have that supports those allegations, rather than just allegations.”

This still looks like a pretty open and shut case to me and I think the last minute introduction of a mystery killer is a clear sign of desperation on the part of the defense. They are reaching for anything to keep Kohberger off death row, but assuming the judge doesn’t intervene in some dramatic way, I don’t think they are going to succeed.