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ACCUSED quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to the gruesome killings of four University of Idaho students after being indicted on five felony charges.
Kohberger, 28, proclaimed his innocence by sitting silently as a judge entered a not-guilty plea on his behalf.
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Kohberger, who wore an orange jail jumpsuit and was not handcuffed, briefly smiled at his attorney Anne Taylor as he appeared in Idaho‘s Latah County Court on Monday.
The accused killer firmly replied, “Yes,” to Judge John Judge after being asked if he understood the charges and penalties.
Kohberger sat quietly as Judge read the names of each victim one at a time as she announced the four first-degree murder charges against him.
When asked for his plea, Kohberger remained silent.
Taylor rose and said, “Your honor, we are standing silent,” and the judge then entered not guilty pleas for him.
A trial date has been set for October 2nd and is expected to last about six weeks.
Kohberger could face the death penalty if convicted.
The 28-year-old PhD criminology student was indicted last week of the murders of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.
The University of Idaho undergrads were found butchered at their off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, on the morning of November 13, 2022.
Kohberger was a graduate student at Washington State University in Pullman, Washington – a 15-minute drive from the rental home where the four students were killed.
He’s been held in solitary confinement at the Latah County jail since he was arrested at his parent’s residence in Monroe County, Pennsylvania, on December 30, 2022.
The grim killings rattled the small college town of Moscow, causing many students to switch to remote learning for the remainder of the Fall 2022 semester.
Investigators said Kohberger visited the house on King Road 12 times before the slaying, dating back to June 2022.
Kohberger’s visits were typically in the late evening or early morning hours, court documents say.
During the early hours of November 13, 2022, investigators said Kohberger sneaked into the three-floor house undetected via a sliding glass door.
The 28-year-old is then accused of brutally stabbing Madison and Kaylee to death in Madison’s second-floor bedroom, and proceeded to kill Xana and Ethan in their third-floor room.
The case went unsolved for over a month until investigators announced Kohberger’s arrest.
Investigators linked the 28-year-old suspect to the crime scene after they matched his DNA on a knife sheath left behind, lying next to victims Madison and Kaylee.
Moscow Police Officer Brett Payne said he noticed the two best friends, 21, had “visible stab wounds.”
He added that when later viewing the room they were in from the door, he noticed “what appeared to be a tan leather knife sheath laying on the bed next to Mogen’s right side.”
The sheath was later processed and had “Ka-Bar,” “USMC,” and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe,” court documents revealed.
On December 27, 2022, after they had zeroed in on the 28-year-old as a suspect, police recovered the trash from the Kohberger family residence in Monroe County.
The next day an Idaho lab reported a DNA profile obtained from the trash, and the DNA profile obtained from the sheath identified a male as not being excluded as the biological father of the suspect.
The suspect’s cell phone was also pinged near the home on King Road.
Authorities have not released a potential motive in the case, and due to an extensive gag order, few details have been revealed to the public.
