Suspect in University of Idaho killings was out driving alone around time of deaths, attorneys say

The man accused of killing four University of Idaho students went for a drive alone the night and morning before their bodies were found, his defense attorneys wrote in court documents.

Bryan Kohberger, 28, was indicted in May on four counts of murder and other charges in connection with the stabbing deaths of the four students who were found dead in a home off-campus on Nov. 13.

In a motion filed Wednesday by his attorneys objecting to a motion by the prosecution, Kohberger said he was out driving late Nov. 12 and into the next day.

“Mr. Kohberger has long had a habit of going for drives alone. Often he would go for drives at night. He did so late on November 12 and into November 13, 2022,” his attorneys wrote.

The bodies of the students — Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves — were found in a home in Moscow, Idaho, after someone called 911 just before noon, authorities said.

Attorneys for Kohberger wrote in the motion filed Wednesday that Kohberger was driving into “the early morning hours” of Nov. 13. The motion does not specify a time.

Kohberger has pleaded not guilty.

His attorneys wrote in Wednesday’s motion that they will try and corroborate that Kohberger was not at the home where the bodies were found through expert witness testimony.

They said an analysis and their own investigation is underway.

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The killings shocked the city of Moscow, population around 25,000, and the university of around 11,000 that calls it home

Kohberger was arrested in Pennsylvania early Dec. 30., more than six weeks after the killings.

His attorneys in Wednesday's motion were responding to a motion by prosecutors to compel a "motive of defense of alibi."

Kohberger's attorneys wrote that "Mr. Kohberger was out driving alone" and that corroboration evidence may come from cross-examination of witnesses for the state, or presentations by defense experts.

Kohberger was a doctoral student at Washington State University in Pullman, around seven miles away from the University of Idaho. He had been in the criminal justice program there and was a teaching assistant in the fall 2022 semester, the university said.

He had graduated from nearby DeSales University in 2020 with a degree in psychology and earned a master of arts in criminal justice from DeSales in June 2022, that university has said.