Bryan Kohberger’s Defense Stands Silent At Arraignment, Judge Enters Not Guilty Pleas

Bryan Kohberger entered a not guilty plea to all charges at his Monday arraignment. This was more than six month after police alleged that he had fatally stabbed 4 University of Idaho undergraduates in their off campus home.
Around 9 am, deputies led Kohberger to the courtroom where he appeared before Judge John Judge.

The defendant, dressed in an orange jumpsuit without handcuffs and wearing no handcuffs at all, sat down quietly and smiled to his attorney, Kootenai County public defender Anne Taylor. The defendant nodded when the Judge read out his rights. Taylor, who has handled capital murder cases, is contracted to represent Kohberger at Latah County where the Moscow Student Murders took place.

Taylor stated that they would be “standing silent”, so the Judge entered not guilty pleas against Kohberger. Standing silent means that the defendant doesn’t take a position on whether they are guilty or not, but the result is the same as pleading guilty.

Edwina Elcox of Idaho, who represented Lori Vallow (aka “Cult Mom”) in the past, said that Kohberger’s decision to remain silent, because he did not plead guilty himself, “can be used as a tactic for continuing negotiations with prosecution.”

Steve Goncalves, Ben Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, the fathers of victims Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, all shook each other’s hands following Monday’s court hearing in Latah County Courthouse.

Kaylee’s younger sister, Alivea Goncalves said that it was “important for her family to attend the Monday hearing”.

Steve Goncalves appears in Latah County Court on Monday, May 22, 2030. The father of University of Idaho student Kaylee, who was killed by Bryan Kohberger and three other students, attended the Bryan Kohberger’s arraignment. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

Kohberger is facing four counts of first-degree homicide and a felony burglary charge in relation to the stabbings that took place on Nov. 13, 2022. The victims were Mogen, Goncalves and Ethan Chapin.

The prosecutor has 60 days in which to inform the defense that they intend to seek the death penalty.

Taylor requested a six-week court trial to begin in October. The judge approved. He scheduled the trial to begin on Oct. 2, nearly a full year after the murders.

Three young women shared a six bedroom home in Moscow, just a few steps from campus with two other female housemates. They were not targeted. Chapin and Kernodle were dating, but they had only been together for a night. This was just days before Thanksgiving break.

Kohberger, 28 years old, was pursuing a Ph.D. degree at Washington State University in the nearby area.

In court documents that were previously unsealed, the police claimed to have traced Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra to the victims’ homes at least a dozen different times before the murders, and again just hours afterward, but before the police arrived on the scene. The police also found DNA on the Ka-Bar sheath that was found near Mogen’s dead body.

According to Latah county coroner Cathy Mabbutt, all four students were stabbed and died. At least some of them may have been sleeping when the ambush began at 4 a.m.

Kohberger was held in jail without bail by the Latah County Jail, Moscow.

If convicted, he could face the death sentence. If convicted, the suspect could be sentenced to 10 years in jail and up four consecutive lifetime sentences.