The surviving roommate of four slain Idaho University students can testify that the intruder she witnessed enter their off-campus home in a ski mask had “bushy eyebrows,” according to a ruling released Friday.
Boise Judge Steven Hippler gave the green light for the eyebrow testimony after a tense hearing between the prosecutors and defense, who have been battling over what evidence will be permitted during the August trial of murder suspect Bryan Kohberger.
Kohberger, 30, is accused of fatally stabbing Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20, on Nov. 13, 2022, inside the off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
One of the few pieces of direct eyewitness evidence comes from one of the surviving roommates, noted in court documents as “D.M.”
In five separate interviews and before a grand jury, D.M. consistently described the intruder as having thick “bushy eyebrows,” a detail Kohberger’s defense says could unfairly sway a jury, the ruling said.
The defense claimed D.M. may have been drinking the night of the brutal slaying and was likely exhausted, raising doubts about how reliable her testimony could be.
They also argued that the detail could unfairly sway the jury because Kohberger is known for his prominent eyebrows.
However, Hippler argued D.M.’s testimony would be “highly relevant,” because she is the only person who witnessed the intruder, denying the defense’s claim that the testimony could result in unfair prejudice.
“There is nothing confusing about her testimony; her descriptions of the ‘bushy eyebrows’ have been consistent and clear,” Hippler wrote in the ruling.
“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, Hippler sided with Kohberger’s defense, saying prosecutors won’t be allowed to use accused killer Bryan Kohberger’s autism to argue to a jury that he deserves the death penalty in the University of Idaho quadruple homicide case.
The defense also asked the judge to keep the jury from hearing “inflammatory” terms about Kohberger like “murderer,” “sociopath” and “psychopath.”
Prosecutors assured the judge they would follow the rules of the court and would only use those types of terms during closing arguments — the only part of trial they would be allowed.
As to gruesome photos of the murder victims and the crime scene that the defense said should be kept to a minimum, the judge said he’d rule on them on a case-by-case basis.
“Make no mistake, these murders, whoever did them, were … horrific. And I expect that the evidence will reflect that,” Hippler said.
He has pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder and burglary in the killings of the four students.
Kohberger, 30, was in the process of getting his Ph.D. in criminology from Washington State University, a school that is just 10 miles from where the murders occurred.
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