Idaho students who killed suspect Bryan Kohberger remain silent as judge pleads not guilty to murder

Bryan Kohberger, the suspect charged with fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, remained silent in court Monday as a judge pleaded not guilty to all murder charges.

His trial is now scheduled to start tentatively on October 2.

When Latah County Judge John Judge asked Kohberger to enter a plea at arraignment, defense attorney Anne Taylor said their side of the table would remain silent.

This prompted the judge to plead not guilty on behalf of the accused.

Prosecutors now have 60 days to notify whether they are seeking the death penalty at the trial which is expected to last six weeks.

Kohberger wore an orange prisoner’s jumpsuit on Monday as he heard the court read five counts against him, one for burglary and four for first-degree murder. in a case and subsequent manhunt that captivated the nation late last year.

The indictments were released last week, officially linking Kohberger, 28, to the November 13 murders near the University of Idaho.

Court documents say Kohberger “unlawfully entered” a home in Moscow, Idaho before “unlawfully, willfully, willfully, and with malicious intent, kill and murder” victims Maddie Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Kohberger, a doctoral student in criminology at nearby Washington State University, was arrested Dec. 30 at his family’s home in Pennsylvania.

Police and prosecutors have yet to publicly discuss possible motives for the shocking crimes that rocked the college town on the Idaho-Washington border.

Investigators linked Kohberger to the crime scene through cellphone signals, security camera footage, a witness in the home and a tan leather knife sheath, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in January.

This knife attachment was found near Mogen’s body and carried DNA from the Kohberger family, authorities said in court documents.

Police picked up trash outside the Kohberger family’s Pennsylvania home – and in that trash found DNA that most likely matched the father of the person who left the knife sheath in Moscow, officials said. said investigators.

Roommate Dylan Mortensen told police she heard crying in the house that morning and spotted ‘a figure dressed in black clothing and a mask that covered the person’s mouth and nose walking towards her’ , according to court documents.

Mortensen “described the figure as 5’10” or taller, male, not very muscular, but athletic with bushy eyebrows. The man walked past (her) as she stood in a ‘frozen shock phase’. The man walked to the back sliding glass door. (She) locked herself in her room after seeing the man.

This is a developing story. Please check for updates.