Before Bryan Kohberger pleaded guilty to killing four college students in Idaho in July, prosecutors planned to recruit his family members to testify against him in court.
While it was previously revealed that his sister Amanda Kohberger was on the prosecution’s witness list, a newly unsealed court document revealed the prosecution’s reasoning for why they wanted her to speak out.
“The State intends to call family members of Defendant for the purpose of establishing certain facts before Defendant moved to Pullman in late summer 2022, as well as facts about Defendant’s conduct when he returned home to Pennsylvania in December 2022,” Latah County Prosecuting Attorney Bill Thompson told the court in the document, per People.
Thompson continued, “The nature of this testimony has been disclosed through reports of interviews.”
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With the exception of Amanda, the attorney did not specify which “family members” were intended to testify.
Meanwhile, defense attorney Anne Taylor wrote in her trial brief that prosecutors would not be able to share an incident that involved Kohberger, 30, and his sister in 2014 when he was in the middle of his drug addiction.
According to Taylor, the incident in question “involved Mr. Kohberger’s taking his sister’s cellular phone to a kiosk at a mall in exchange for money.” She said the situation could not be brought up in court due to a “sealed stipulation”
“His father called police, the end result of which was a minor theft charge that was later expunged,” she continued in the brief about the incident.
It’s not currently clear why Amanda was the only family member listed as a witness by the prosecution, as his parents were also actively involved in his life during the time of the murders and the aftermath.
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However, Kohberger listed his parents, his two sisters and his uncle as possible mitigation witnesses for the penalty phase of his trial.
Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 for his involvement in the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin in November 2022.
During a July court hearing, Kohberger entered a guilty plea and confessed to murdering the four victims. Additionally, Kohberger pleaded guilty to a burglary charge.
In exchange for his plea, Kohberger will serve four consecutive life sentences for the murder charges and 10 years for the burglary charge. He will not be able to appeal the case, though it was not stated if he will ever be eligible for parole.
Kohberger previously refused to enter a plea during a hearing in 2023. Due to his refusal, the judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf.
