Bryan Kohberger enters Idaho courtroom
Quadruple murders suspect Bryan Kohberger has been indicted by a secret grand jury.
A preliminary hearing for this case that was scheduled for next month will no longer take place.
Kohberger is expected to appear in court for his arraignment on murder charges next Monday.
The indictment is still under seal.
NBC News reported:
An Idaho grand jury has indicted the man suspected in the slayings of four college students in November, paving the way for an arraignment on murder charges.
A preliminary hearing in the case against Bryan Kohberger, 28, was originally scheduled for next month, following his arrest in December on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary for allegedly breaking into a Moscow, Idaho, home with the intent to commit a felony.
But the prosecutors’ decision to impanel a grand jury, which was not anticipated, allows the state to avoid the weeklong preliminary hearing that would have required it to present evidence before a judge, as well as permit the defense counsel to cross-examine witnesses.
An Idaho Supreme Court spokesperson on Wednesday confirmed the grand jury indictment. Neither prosecutors nor Kohberger’s public defender could immediately be reached for comment.
Bryan Kohberger, 28, is accused of fatally stabbing 20-year-old Ethan Chapin of Conway, Washington; 21-year-old Madison Mogen of Coeur d’Alene, Idaho; 20-year-old Xana Kernodle of Avondale, Arizona; and 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves of Rathdrum, Idaho on November 13.
Murder victims from left: Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Maddie Mogen
According to the court documents, Kohberger’s DNA was found on a tan leather knife sheath left behind on Maddie Mogen’s bed on the 3rd floor at the King Road Residence.
“The sheath was later processed and had ‘Ka-Bar’ ‘USMC’ and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe and anchor insignia stamped on the outside of it,” Idaho police officer Brett Payne wrote in the 19-page affidavit. “The Idaho state lab later located a single source of male DNA (suspect Profile) left on the button snap of the knife sheath.”
Pennsylvania unsealed search warrants that revealed a number of items seized by law enforcement from Bryan Kohberger’s parents’ home during a December 30 raid.
Authorities seized black gloves, a Glock, a knife (possibly the murder weapon?), black face masks, ‘green leafy substance’ in a plastic bag and other items.
Police also seized parts of Bryan Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra.
Click here to read the probable cause affidavit and read through and analysis.
Click here to read the unsealed search warrant on Bryan Kohberger’s Pullman, Washington apartment.