A judge ruled Friday that one of the surviving roommates of the slain University of Idaho students can testify that the masked intruder she saw the night of her friends’ deaths had “bushy eyebrows.”
Ada County Judge Steven Hippler’s decision Friday comes after a hearing intended to resolve several arguments about which evidence can be used at trial between the state and the defense.
Bryan Kohberger, 30, is accused of fatally stabbing Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; and Xana Kernodle, 20; as well as Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, with a large fixed-blade knife at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022.
He has pleaded not guilty to four counts of murder.
Attorneys for Kohberger have clashed with prosecutors over which pieces of evidence should be admissible at trial, which is set to begin this summer.
Latah County prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted.
‘Bushy eyebrows’
In the Friday ruling about whether describing the intruder as having “bushy eyebrows” would be permitted, the judge noted that the roommate’s story stayed consistent across five interviews and in grand jury testimony.
In the interviews following the killings, the roommate, who is the only known eyewitness of the intruder that night, repeatedly mentioned the suspect’s eyebrows.
Kohberger’s defense team argued that the roommate’s testimony is unreliable because she admitted she was very tired and may have been drunk when she saw the intruder.
The judge also called the “bushy eyebrow” testimony “highly relevant,” because this roommate is the only person who saw the intruder, and denied the defense’s claims that said testimony could result in unfair prejudice toward the suspect.
“There is nothing confusing about her testimony; her descriptions of the ‘bushy eyebrows’ have been consistent and clear,” Hippler wrote. “D.M.’s description of the intruder having bushy eyebrows will not reasonably compel jury to find Defendant guilty simply because he may have similar eyebrows.”
Last week, the judge sided with the defense, ruling that “sociopath” and “psychopath” should not be used as descriptors for Kohberger in court, but allowed him to be called a “murderer.”
More rulings
The defense had also sought to keep Kohberger’s recently diagnosed Autism Spectrum Disorder out of the trial.
The judge granted the request in part, noting that testimony about his diagnosis would not be relevant unless Kohberger testifies.
Hippler also ruled on two pieces of physical evidence Friday.
One allows the state to use a 3-D printed model of the victims’ off-campus house, with Hippler noting that the killings took place in two bedrooms of a three-story home with a “complicated layout.”
“The suspect’s ability to enter the home, carrying out the stabbings and exit the home consistent with D.M.’s observations will be central point of the trial, particularly given that Defendant is challenging whether it could be accomplished by one person within the time frame alleged,” Hippler wrote in his ruling.
The defense asked the judge to exclude Kohberger’s Amazon order history from trial, as prosecutors have alleged in court documents that the suspect purchased a knife online that matched the knife sheath found at the scene.
Hippler denied the request, calling the order history “highly relevant.”
He also noted that Kohberger searched for how to delete his account activity following the slayings and then, weeks later, searched for the knife again, establishing a “significant connection between Defendant and Ka-bar knife and sheath.”
Earlier this week, the judge ruled that the immediate family members of the victims will be allowed in court, and that the state must provide a list of Kohberger’s family members that it is calling to testify so the other family members can be allowed to attend court, as well.
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