It has been more than two years since four University of Idaho students – Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin – were fatally stabbed in their off-campus residence in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022.
Authorities arrested suspect Bryan Kohberger at his family home in Pennsylvania after a cross-country manhunt on December 30, 2022, and he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty in the case, which has been repeatedly delayed.
After a successful petition for a change of venue that moved the trial from Moscow to Boise, a trial date was finally set for August 2025. Pre-trial hearings have started to reveal how Kohberger’s legal team will mount his defense, though their most recent motions have largely been denied by Judge Steven Hippler.
On Tuesday’s show, Megyn was joined by Nancy Grace, author of What Happened to Ellen?, to discuss what the defense’s maneuvering signals about the case and whether or not the prosecution would ever accept a plea.
The ‘Bushy Eyebrows’
Last Friday, Judge Hippler handed down a series of orders in response to motions filed by the defense team. In one, he said the jury can hear testimony from one of the surviving roommates, Dylan Mortensen, describing the intruder’s “bushy eyebrows.”
In law enforcement interviews and grand jury testimony, Mortensen repeatedly said she saw a masked man wearing all black in the home around the time of the murders and described him as having “bushy eyebrows.” While the defense argued she is an unreliable eyewitness whose recollection has been inconsistent and muddled by external factors, the judge disagreed.
“D.M.’s testimony about ‘bushy eyebrows’ is highly relevant in this case. D.M. is the only eyewitness to the intruder responsible for the homicides,” Hippler wrote. “It is the jury’s task to determine whether Defendant is that person.”
Autism and OCD
The judge also ruled that Kohberger’s legal team will not be allowed to tell the jury about his autism diagnosis unless he takes the stand in his own defense. His attorneys had asked to include the information in opening statements as a way to explain what might be perceived as odd behavior.
Hippler denied the motion, saying Kohberger’s demeanor is not relevant unless he testifies and that he had not witnessed any unusual behavior from the defendant during the hearings he has presided over.
Grace noted that the autism diagnosis may still come into play at another point in the trial. “This is a death penalty case… [with] a bifurcated trial… First is the guilt/innocence phase,” she explained. “If he is found guilty – which I predict he will be – there is the second phase of the trial, which is a sentencing phase, where the jury will decide whether he gets the death penalty.”
At that point, she believes Hippler would relent. “If there is a guilty verdict… I believe the judge will relent and bring in – if there is any – any expert that says he is autistic to diminish his capacity to commit the crime,” she continued. “Now, will it diminish his capacity to commit a crime? No… This guy is a PhD student. He has made stellar grades… He is not going to be deemed incapable or incompetent to commit a crime.”
As it relates to Kohberger’s alleged OCD, the judge said he would wait to decide if the defense can call an expert to talk about the condition as it relates to how he was seen potentially destroying evidence as he wore gloves while disposing of baggies in his parents’ neighbor’s trash cans the night before his arrest.
Grace said the filing of the motions themselves leads her to but one conclusion. “It tells that they are between a rock and hard spot,” she noted. “That’s where they are.”
Potential Plea Deal?
With that in mind, Megyn pointed to new reporting from journalist Howard Blum about the role Kohberger’s mother is playing in the case. “He reports that Kohberger’s mother, Maryann, is encouraging her son to plead not guilty, notwithstanding called as evidence,” she explained, “and that there might even be a movement afoot by Kohberger’s defense attorneys to somehow wrest the decision to stay in the not guilty camp away from Maryann and Bryan as we get to the trial and somehow convince this judge to let them enter into some sort of a plea bargain negotiation with the prosecution.”
Grace said there is “no world” in which a defense attorney can seek a plea deal without the consent of the defendant. And even if Kohberger did change his plea on his own, she is not sure prosecutors would be interested.
“I don’t know, frankly, if the state would even go along with a guilty plea for life without parole,” she said. “They are hell bent on seeking the death penalty, and he is not going to plead guilty to the death penalty. To me, that means you are going to trial.”
You can check out Megyn’s full interview with Grace by tuning in to episode 1,054 on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you like to listen. And don’t forget that you can catch The Megyn Kelly Show live on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) weekdays from 12pm to 2pm ET.