Idaho murders: How genetic genealogy helped identify suspect
Correspondent Dan Springer reports the latest from Seattle, Washington.
A surviving roommate of the Moscow, Idaho home where four people were killed in November 2022 has agreed to an interview with suspect Bryan Kohberger's defense counsel, according to a court filing.
Kohberger, a former criminology Ph.D. candidate at Washington State University, is accused of entering a home near the University of Idaho campus on Nov. 13 at around 4 a.m. and stabbing four people inside. Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, along with Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin, both 20, were killed.
According to a police affidavit, one of the two survivors in the house heard a commotion and saw a masked man leave the house through a rear sliding door.
The second roommate, who lives in Nevada, was named in a Washoe County court filing on Monday. According to the court filing made by Richard Bitonti, an investigator working for Kohberger's court-appointed attorney Anne Taylor, the second roommate allegedly heard or saw things that might clear the suspect.
IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS: BRYAN KOHBERGER DEFENSE CLAIMS SURVIVING ROOMMATE HAS 'EXCULPATORY' EVIDENCE
Bryan Kohberger enters a courtroom in Moscow, Idaho January 12, 2023 for a status hearing. The accused murderer waived his right to a quick preliminary hearing and will appear in court again on June 26. (Kai Eiselein/Pool)
In a Wednesday court filing, the law firm representing the roommate in Nevada said that she has agreed to an interview with Kohberger's defense counsel in Reno, Nevada, instead of being forced into appearing in Idaho.
The roommate's lawyer and Kohberger's defense counsel both asked in the filing for the initial subpoena to be dismissed.
The initial subpoena demanded the roommates' appearance at a preliminary hearing on June 28. It also warns that she could face a $500 fine or 25 days in jail if she doesn't comply.
Front view of the house where four Idaho students were killed in November 2022. It is just steps away from the University of Idaho campus. (Adam Sabes/Fox News Digital)
"During the course of my investigation, it became known to me that [she] has information material to the charges against Mr. Kohberger," Bitonti wrote in the affidavit in support of the subpoena.
Some of the information, Bitonti contends, "is exculpatory to the defendant."
Bryan Kohberger, with small cuts visible on his face, listens during a status hearing in Moscow, Idaho January 12. The accused murderer waived his right to a quick preliminary hearing and will appear in court again on June 26. (Kai Eiselein/Pool)
Kelli Anne Viloria, the lawyer representing the second roommate in Nevada, initially argued that the Idaho subpoena wasn't properly filed and said that "there is no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to Idaho for preliminary hearing."
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Bryan Kohberger arrives at Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania in advance of highly anticipated extradition hearing. He's charged with the murders of four University of Idaho students. (The Image Direct for Fox News Digital)
"There is also no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to an Idaho matter without a hearing and there is no authority to summon a Nevada witness to an Idaho matter without a Nevada judge making a finding of materiality, necessity and the lack of undue hardship," she wrote.
Fox News' Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.
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