Bryan Kohberger lawyers warn of threat to people's lives (2024)

Bryan Kohberger's defense team warned this month of possible threats to people's lives in the Idaho murders trial.

On April 4, Kohberger's attorney, Anne Taylor, filed a motion with the state requesting that the court issue an order requiring "discovery requests and responses submitted by the Defense and the State under seal for the pendency of the case."

The motion states that "the documents contain facts or statements that might threaten or endanger the life or safety of individuals." Additionally, the motion warns that full release of discovery "would constitute an unwarranted invasion of personal privacy."

The state of Idaho responded to Taylor's motion saying that release of discovery evidence could "disclose the identity of a confidential source."

No further information was provided on who the evidence may endanger or on a possible confidential source in the case.

Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor and elected state attorney in Florida, told Newsweek that "The motion filed by Bryan Kohberger's attorney to seal the discovery exhibits and attachments for the pendency of the case was a stipulated motion."

"One of several possible bases cited in the government's motion was the exhibit might disclose a confidential source. It is unclear whether that specific reason (confidential source disclosure) was the actual justification for the request to seal," McAuliffe said.

Newsweek reached out to Taylor's office via email for comment.

The two motions in the case come shortly after the state and the defense argued over surveys of possible jurors in the trial.

Kohberger, 29, was arrested in December 2022 and charged with four counts of murder in the first degree and one count of felony burglary in the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

The bodies of the four University of Idaho students were found in an off-campus residence on November 13, 2022. Kohberger has maintained his innocence in the case, previously standing silent during his arraignment. Judge John Judge, who is overseeing the case, entered "not guilty" pleas for each of the charges against him in response.

McAuliffe told Newsweek that Taylor's motion on discovery clearly shows "that both the prosecution and the defense don't want certain information in the case to become public."

"The sensitive information might be a reference to an individual or it could be a statement of a witness or even documentation of a fact or event not otherwise in the public domain. In the event that the fact, if public, would potentially interfere with the ability to pick a jury, then both sides would want to keep it secret for now," McAuliffe said.

Last week, Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson criticized a survey conducted by the defense of potential jurors and said that a "game changer," was found relating to the surveys. Taylor conducted surveys of possible jurors in her ongoing attempts to have the case moved out of Latah County, Idaho.

During a hearing, Thompson said that the survey questions violated gag orders in the case and possible jurors were "injected" with information, The Lewiston Tribune reported. Thompson said that the "survey cannot stand."

It was later revealed that the audio recording was from a survey respondent who recorded a phone call, which included a question if the public was aware that "university students in Moscow and their parents lived in fear until Bryan Kohberger was arrested for the murders?"

Judge also criticized the survey questions last week calling it a "total shock" to him and said, "Because this is a big deal, and I take it very, very seriously. And I was surprised, OK, that this was happening behind our backs."

Taylor said that the survey results showed that "the jury pool in Latah County is biased."

Update 4/10/24, 9:58 a.m. ET: This article was updated with comment from Michael McAuliffe.