An Idaho judge declined to throw out key evidence against the man charged with murder in connection with the killings of four University of Idaho students, saying Wednesday that the genetic investigation process that it hinges on was not unconstitutional.
Judge Steven Hippler was not swayed by legal arguments made by Bryan Kohberger’s defense team that law enforcement violated his constitutional rights when they used a process called Investigative Genetic Genealogy, or IGG, to identify possible suspects.
The decision came nearly a month after a two-day hearing on the matter, removing what could have been a major wrench in the prosecution’s case before trial starts in August. The judge said no one would be allowed into the courtroom but that the open portions of the trial would be livestreamed from the court’s YouTube page.
Kohberger is charged with four counts of murder in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, who were killed in the early morning of Nov. 13, 2022, at a rental home near 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.
The IGG process often starts when DNA found at the scene of a crime doesn’t yield any results through standard law enforcement databases. When that happens, investigators may look at all the variations, or single nucleotide polymorphisms, that are in the DNA sample. Those SNPs, or “snips,” are then uploaded to a genealogy database like GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA to look for possible relatives of the person whose DNA was found at the scene.
In Kohberger’s case, investigators said they found “touch DNA,” or trace DNA, on the sheath of a knife that was found in the home where the students were fatally stabbed. The FBI used the IGG process on that DNA and the information identified Kohberger as a possible suspect.
Defense attorney Anne Taylor had argued that police never sought warrants to analyze the DNA found at the crime scene, nor did they get warrants to analyze the DNA of potential relatives that had been submitted to genealogy databases. She argued the court should suppress the IGG identification and everything that came from it.
The judge said that in order to throw out evidence based on a warrantless search, Kohberger’s defense would need to “show that he had legitimate expectation of privacy in the item or place searched.”
“Any privacy interest he can claim in this DNA was abandoned along with the sheath, to which he claims no ownership or knowledge,” said Hippler. “Even if no such abandonment occurred, defendant has not demonstrated it is reasonable to recognize a privacy interest in DNA left at a crime scene.”
The judge also ruled against three other defense motions objecting to the way warrants were issued and to suppress evidence such as cellphone data.
“He deserves to die,” victim’s mother says
Last November, Kristi and Steve Goncalves, the parents of Kaylee Goncalves, said the details of the case show the death penalty is merited.
“You’ve got four victims, all in one house – that’s more than enough,” Steve Goncalves said.
Kristi Goncalves said she talked to the coroner and knows what happened to her daughter.
“If he did anything like he did to our daughter to the others, then he deserves to die,” she said.
Steve Goncalves told “48 Hours” last year that “there’s evidence to show that she awakened and tried to get out of that situation,” saying “she was trapped” based on the way the bed was set up
Goncalves’ family said in the spring that they were frustrated by how long it has taken the case to progress through the judicial system.
“This case is turning into a hamster wheel of motions, hearings, and delayed decisions,” the family said in a statement.
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