Latest news with #DeSalesUniversity
Daily Mirror
7 days ago
- Daily Mirror
Chilling Idaho murder details finally emerge from 'motive' to horrific injuries
Three years after the brutal University of Idaho massacre, killer Bryan Kohberger has been given four life sentences without the possibility of parole. And haunting details have emerged concerning the scene that left officers 'unable to comprehend' what they were looking at In the early hours of Sunday, November 13, 2022, horror came to the University of Idaho. PhD student Bryan Kohberger broke into an off-campus rental property in the close-knit college town of Moscow, Idaho, where he ruthlessly murdered Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen, both 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Xana's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20. Two other housemates were also present when the slaughter unfolded, but escaped unharmed. For years, the community has had to continue on in the shadow of an unthinkable tragedy. Number 1122 King Road, the house where the killings took place, has since been demolished, but memories of this terrible time continue to linger. Until recently, details of the shocking case have been kept under wraps to ensure that Kohberger could undergo a fair trial, leaving loved ones with many questions. Now - after taking a plea deal to avoid a death sentence - the 30-year-old has been handed four life sentences without the possibility of parole, following more than two hours of heart-wrenching statements from bereaved families. Handing down sentencing on July 23, Judge Steven Hippler said: "I'm unable to find anything redeemable about Mr Kohberger. His actions have made him the worst of the worst." Bryan Kohberger sentenced: father of murder victim damns killer in three simple words 'Bryan Kohberger butchered my flatmates while I was next door - here's how I escaped' Warped 'motive' In their book The Idaho Murders, extracts of which have been published in the Mail Online, writers James Patterson and Vicky Ward offer an insight into the warped mind of Kohberger. Nicknamed "the ghost" by classmates at DeSales University, anti-social Kohberger was known for his fascination with killers, in particular, Elliot Rodger. Regarded as an early influence on incel culture, Rodger, 22, went on a shooting rampage in 2014 as revenge against rejection by women, detailing his frustrations in a lengthy manifesto. The wealthy student killed six, before turning the gun on himself. Drawing parallels between Kohberger and Rodger, Patterson and Ward detailed how Kohberger had a hatred of women, and was infuriated by attractive girls he perceived as "Stacys" who would date handsome "Chads". One day in class, Kohberger was apparently caught unprepared by a question posed by female lecturer Dr Hillary Mellinger, a specialist in the field of gender-based violence. Humiliated and red-faced with rage, misogynist Kohberger is said to have later gone for an evening drive and headed to a restaurant he'd heard about online, the Mad Greek. It was here that Madison "Maddie" Mogen, one of the four Idaho victims, worked part-time alongside her studies. Marketing major Maddie was blonde, pretty, and interested in fashion and beauty products. In Kohberger's twisted view of the world, she was a 'Stacy' - the book claimed - and he did not take kindly when she spurned his awkward advances. In The Idaho Murders, which will be published July 31, Patterson and Ward detailed the apparent interaction that unfolded. They wrote: "Maddie wipes down a table and turns to get fresh cutlery to seat new customers. Then she notices him. Unusual-looking. Intense bulging eyes. Thin, almost emaciated. And pale, almost ghost white. He's staring at her intently. Maddie is used to male attention, but this time it feels uncomfortable. 'I'm Bryan,' he says. 'What's your name?' Maddie hesitates, then tells him. Why wouldn't she? Everyone here knows it. "He asks, 'Would you like to go out sometime?' This is an easy one, Maddie thinks. The idea of going out with this strange-looking guy is surreal. Maddie is anything but easy, even for guys she likes. And she doesn't know or like this one. She flicks back her hair. 'Uh, no,' she says. She smiles, laughs a bit. It's a nervous habit she has, especially with guys she turns down. She doesn't mean anything rude by it. "But this guy looks at her strangely, like he doesn't believe what he's hearing. He gets up slowly, still staring at her, and walks out. Maddie shakes her head and goes about her business. She doesn't see the guy walk to his car, a white Hyundai Elantra, sit in the driver's seat, and type her name into his phone." Stalking campaign Newly released police records suggest that Kohberger carried out a practice run one month before the murders. From July 2022 right through to November 13, 2022, Kohberger's phone pinged in the vicinity of the three-storey student house at least 23 times, with the timings indicating that he mostly visited under the cover of darkness. Chillingly, housemates would reportedly make "lighthearted talk and jokes" about a potential stalker, but "were slightly nervous about it being a fact". There were also a few incidents which stood out as being strange. It's understood that victim Kaylee had confided in at least two friends about having spotted a man watching her from the trees just outside the house where she would be ruthlessly murdered. Meanwhile, survivor Dylan Mortensen spoke of how Kaylee had described seeing the 'shadow' while taking her pet dog Murphy outside. Dylan also opened up about how, just two or three weeks before the tragedy, Kaylee had mentioned being followed by someone. These accounts were supported by another unnamed friend, who told officers that Kaylee had seen a dark figure staring at her from the trees while she was outside with Murphy. Devastating injuries Officers responding to the terrible scene noted that there was so much blood that it was initially difficult to determine what injuries some of the victims had suffered. In a police report seen by the Idaho Statesman, one officer said: 'I was unable to comprehend exactly what I was looking at while trying to discern the nature of the injuries." The recent Amazon Prime series, One Night In Idaho, showed blood seeping through the outside walls of the property. Kaylee and Madison were found together in the latter's bedroom on the third floor, lying on a single bed covered with a blood-soaked pink blanket. Discussing how her daughter had been "trapped" during the attack, Kristi said: 'The side where Kaylee was, was up against the wall. And if you can imagine, Kaylee in an upright sort of position – up in the corner – slumped. I mean she was trapped. The bed was the entire room. You could barely open up the door without swiping the foot of the bed - and it was wall. The headboard was up against the wall.' It's been theorised that evil Kohberger had only intended to target Madison, and hadn't expected to find her close friend Kaylee in her bed. It was noted that Madison had a wound to her face, as well as lacerations to her upper body, with fatal injuries to her liver and left lung. During an appearance on the Today show, Kaylee's father, Steve Goncalves, described the stabbing injuries his daughter suffered as comparable to "drowning". Appearing alongside Kaylee's mother, Kristi Goncalves, Steve shared: 'She had definitely been stabbed multiple times, and they kind of described it as a drowning that can occur. But she did say gagging; [Kohberger] struck her in the face.' Kristi also detailed how Kaylee had sustained a broken nose, septal hematomas, asphyxial injuries and defence wounds to her arms during the attack. She said: "She [was] stabbed many, many times. But how many, we don't know." As explained in a police report obtained by ABC News, Kaylee's injuries had 'made her unrecognisable." The report asserted: "Madison appeared to be laying up against Kaylee. Madison had what appeared to be wounds to her forearm and hands. Madison had a gash under her right eye, which appeared to go from the corner of her eye to her nose. Kaylee was unrecognisable as her facial structure was extremely damaged." Xana and Ethan, who were in a relationship, were found in Xana's bedroom. It was determined that Ethan suffered a fatal stab wound to the neck, severing his jugular vein, subclavian vein and artery. Xana, who was stabbed more than 50 times, died from lacerations to the heart and lungs. The medical examiner concluded that the majority of her wounds were defensive, sustained while fighting off the killer. Faulty lock Known as a party house, it reportedly wasn't unusual for students to pop in and out of Number 1122 King Road at all hours. Friends of the housemates knew that they could easily get access via the sliding doors by the kitchen, which had a broken lock. All party guests had to do to release the door was lift up the mechanism.
Daily Mail
08-07-2025
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE Bryan Kohberger's classmates expose warped 137-page manifesto that may be biggest clue yet about his REAL motive
Before he murdered four students in a 13-minute stabbing spree, Bryan Kohberger had spent four years studying the actions, minds and motives of some of the most depraved killers inside a classroom at DeSales University. Among them was a man named Elliot Rodger.
Newsweek
03-07-2025
- Newsweek
Serial Killer Expert Reveals How Bryan Kohberger 'Completely' Fooled Her
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. A renowned expert on killers who once taught Bryan Kohberger - who has admitted to the brutal stabbings of four University of Idaho students - said he had "completely" fooled her. Katherine Ramsland, who taught Kohberger at DeSales University, spoke publicly about her former student for the first time in an interview with NewsNation on Tuesday night after it emerged that Kohberger was set to plead guilty to the murders in a deal to avoid the death penalty. She had not spoken out until now as she had been expected to appear as a witness in Kohberger's trial. Ramsland - who worked with BTK serial killer Dennis Rader to co-author Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer - told NewsNation's Brian Entin that she would be interested in working with Kohberger. "I want to understand how he was able to completely fool me," she said. Newsweek has contacted Ramsland for further comment via email. Katherine Ramsland speaking in 2016 at Penn State Berks. Katherine Ramsland speaking in 2016 at Penn State Berks. Lauren A. Little/MediaNews Group/Reading Eagle via Getty Why It Matters Kohberger, 30, pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges that he murdered Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four students were fatally stabbed in a rental home near the university's campus in Moscow, Idaho, in the early hours of November 13, 2022. The slayings had sparked a massive search for the perpetrator. Kohberger, then a Ph.D student in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University in nearby Pullman, Washington, was arrested at his parents' home in Pennsylvania weeks after the murders. Investigators matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath found at the crime scene. He was then charged with four counts of murder and one count of felony burglary. When asked to enter a plea in 2023, Kohberger stood silent, prompting a judge to enter not-guilty pleas on his behalf. His trial had been set to start in August, but Kohberger agreed to the plea deal after his attorneys tried - and failed - to get the death penalty taken off the table in the pending trial. The deal has divided the victims' families, with some supporting it while others are furious that it will allow Kohberger to avoid the death penalty. What To Know Ramsland said she met Kohberger in the fall of 2018 after he started a four-year program at DeSales University as a psychology major on the forensics track. "He selected the forensic track which made him an advisee for me," she said. "He seemed like, eager to be in the classroom. He was polite, he was respectful, intense and curious and there was no reason for me to think that he was anything other than someone who was really interested in this potential career." She said there wasn't anything that "stood out" to her and she didn't observe any "red flags." "He was always really quite respectful and grateful," Ramsland said. "He would thank me for things. He was attentive. He would do the work. I didn't have any concerns. She said she taught him in four classes, including an introduction to forensic psychology and one on death investigation. She also taught him in a class on behavioral criminology and another called "Dangerous Minds: The Psychology of Anti-Social Behavior." "We all, everyone in this field, forensic psychology and criminology, know that we could have students who might become offenders," she said. "But we also know that the majority, the vast majority of our students will not, and will instead go into a field like law enforcement... We know that there's always a risk that we're attracting somebody who wants to do something terrible hoping we wont ever have that but in my case, I did." She went on: "I think just the idea of wanting to study offenders and what their thought process was, how they felt about their crimes, wanting to study that and then finding out if this is a person who then is now saying he's guilty of doing these things. I have to look at the framework of what I taught and wonder, did I inspire him in some way? But I can't second guess that because I may have inspired somebody else to become an FBI agent. And unfortunately, in this field, that's what we live with." Ramsland said she had thought Kohberger was "a promising student who really could have made a mark in this career." She added: "I thought that so I was disappointed, angry and... shocked that, you know, this is who he turned out to be, and horrified for the victims and their families." Asked if she would want to study Kohberger, Ramsland said: "If he wanted to do that, I would... this is what we do, to try to look at developmental trajectories, the triggers so that we can see red flags faster, we can prevent people like this from wreaking the havoc that they do." She added: "I know he has the intellectual capacity to do it, to be self-reflective, to help think through how his life came to this. And so I would definitely do it if he were willing. And it would be hard but I think because I have so much material from him, I have questions for him that I think nobody else but me could ask." What People Are Saying Asked about Kohberger having her "fooled," Ramsland also said: "Well, I study the ones who are really good at it because I want to really try to understand what can we see in the constellation of behaviors that will tip us off easier because people who are really good at passing as normal and keeping their dark side hidden can fool people, can fool all the experts, for a long period of time. I think anybody in my field will tell you they can be duped by a really skilful predatory type of person." Prosecutors wrote in a letter to the families of the victims: "This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction appeals." The Goncalves family, who opposed the plea agreement, said in a Facebook post on Tuesday: "While we are cognizant that some may have wanted the plea, the prosecution relayed to us it was NOT a majority vote that was the deciding factor in offering this plea. At a bare minimum, please - require a full confession, full accountability, location of the murder weapon, confirmation the defendant acted alone, & the true facts of what happened that night. We deserve to know when the beginning of the end was." Mogen's father Ben Mogen, who is supportive of the deal, told CBS News: "We can actually put this behind us and not have these future dates and future things that we don't want to have to be at, that we shouldn't have to be at, that have to do with this terrible person. We get to just think about the rest of [our] lives and have to try and figure out how to do it without Maddie and the rest of the kids." Martin Souto Diaz, an attorney for the Kohberger family, said in a statement on behalf of the family, provided to CBS News: "In light of recent developments, the Kohbergers are asking members of the media for privacy, respect, and responsible judgement during this time. "We will continue to allow the legal process to unfold with respect to all parties, and will not release any comments or take any questions." What's Next Kohberger is due to be sentenced on July 23.
New York Times
02-07-2025
- New York Times
The Serial Killer Expert Who Taught the Idaho Killer Shares Her Story
The news first came in a phone call. Dr. Katherine Ramsland, one of the nation's most prominent experts on serial killers, got word from a colleague that her former student had been arrested in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students. It left her completely stunned, she said. And then she doubted it could possibly be true. 'I thought, 'They have to have this wrong,'' Dr. Ramsland said in an interview. 'This has to be wrong. It's not the Bryan Kohberger that I know.' At DeSales University, where Mr. Kohberger got a master's degree in criminal justice in 2022, Dr. Ramsland is a professor of forensic psychology who has written extensively about high-profile murderers, including an examination of the serial killer known as B.T.K. Her books include 'The Mind of a Murderer' and 'How to Catch a Killer.' Over the years, Dr. Ramsland said, she has always kept aware of the prospect that people might take her courses and learn the methods of serial killers in order to build on their own nefarious ideas. But she said in her time with Mr. Kohberger, she never had that concern. 'He was very polite, respectful, seemed genuinely engaged with the material as a potential researcher, teacher, somebody who was interested in a career,' she said. After Mr. Kohberger's arrest in December 2022, weeks after the murders in Moscow, Idaho, she expected he would clear his name. But then she found it odd that Mr. Kohberger was not offering an alibi. When one finally did emerge, more than a year after the case began, Mr. Kohberger said that he had been out driving around on the night of the killings. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Daily Mail
02-07-2025
- Daily Mail
Bryan Kohberger's professor fears she 'inspired' murders
A professor who taught accused Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger criminology in college and took him inside the mind of serial killers fears she may have inspired him and is offering to study his 'dark side'. Dr. Katherine Ramsland, who has long been an expert in the field of serial killers and once wrote a book with the BTK strangler, taught four different undergraduate and graduate courses to Kohberger at DeSales University in Pennsylvania. Kohberger is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday when he's likely to plead guilty in exchange for life in prison and no death penalty as part of a plea deal that has sparked outrage from victims' families. Ramsland (pictured) - who called Kohberger 'a promising student who could have made a mark' on the field of forensic psychology - initially refused to believe he could be capable of killing, even after his arrest. But as she investigated the case more, Ramsland began to believe Kohberger may be responsible and was forced to ask herself a tough question. 'I have to look at the framework of what I taught and wonder: Did I inspire him?' she told NewsNation Tuesday night. Ramsland continues her studies and teachings, but accepts how her courses may influence students, explaining 'unfortunately, in this field, that's what we live with.' She admits that given her research into the minds of the most vile of people, she knows a rare few of her students may turn out this way. 'We know that there's always a risk that we're attracting somebody that's going to do something terrible,' she conceded. 'I know, everyone in this field know that we could have students who might become offenders but we also know the vast majority of our students will not and will go into a field like law enforcement that will make the world better,' she added. Despite her disgust, Ramsland - who wrote the literal book on BTK killer, Confession of a Serial Killer: The Untold Story of Dennis Rader, the BTK Killer - admits she's interested in potentially studying Kohberger. 'This is my work. If he wanted to do that, I would,' she said, adding that the study would be to try and learn 'developmental trajectories' and 'red flags' so killers can be identified faster. 'If he wanted to do that, I know that he's got the intellectual capacity to do it, to be self-reflective,' she said. 'I would definitely do it if he were willing. It would be hard but I think because I have so much material for him, I have questions for him that I think nobody but me could ask.' Ramsland, who taught Kohberger courses ranging from an intro to forensic psychology to one titled 'Dangerous Minds: the psychology of anti-social behavior,' at first was skeptical her former student could be capable of such heinous acts. 'I really thought Bryan was a promising student who really could have made a mark in this career in a very positive way,' she said. She added that 'he was polite, he was respectful, intense and curious. There was no reason for me to think that he was anyone other than someone interested in this potential career.' 'His demeanor was that he was confident that he was going to prove his innocence,' she said. 'I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt.' However, in March, when Kohberger claimed he was being framed by a real killer who planted evidence at the scene of the crime , Ramsland began to consider he could in fact be the right suspect. 'When he said his alibi - and it was clearly not an alibi and he would've known that through his classes and undergraduate work - that was when I was floored that this is my student who has done these things,' she said. Kohberger's shock move to accept a plea deal has left his ex-advisor Ramsland stunned, despite all her years working in this field. 'I'm disappointed, angry and shocked that this is who he turned out to be and horrified for the victims and their families,' she said. Kohberger, 30, was due to face a capital murder trial in August for the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; her best friend Madison Mogen, 21; as well as their housemate Xana Kernodle, 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin , 20, in November 2022. But it was revealed on Monday that Latah County prosecutors have offered the former criminology graduate student a deal in which he would plead guilty to the murders and a burglary charge, in exchange for a sentence of life in prison without the possibility of parole. Kohberger is now expected to appear in court on today to have the deal signed off by a judge. The family of Kaylee Goncalves was quick to condemn the agreement , declaring on Facebook that the State of Idaho 'failed us' as they hit out at prosecutors for failing to notify them that a plea deal was going through. 'We weren't even called about the plea; we received an email with a letter attached,' family members said in a statement. 'That's how Latah County's Prosecutor's Office treats murder victims' families. Adding insult to injury, they're rushing the plea, giving families just one day to coordinate and appear at the courthouse for a plea on July 2.' Steven Goncalves, Kaylee's father, is urging the judge overseeing the case to reject the plea deal. 'If anyone knows Judge [Steven] Hippler... reach out to him and ask him to put his foot down and not accept this offer,' the grieving father begged members of NewsNation's Ashleigh Banfield's audience Monday night. 'This is not justice,' he continued, declaring that it goes against what the victims' families want. 'This isn't the will of the victims' [families]. This is just one person making a decision, and it doesn't reflect what we're calling for,' Goncalves said of Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson, whom he claimed, 'decided to play God and decide what this man's decision should be and not a jury, not his peers.' He then called for 'no plea deal,' saying, 'Let's go for this guy 100 percent. Let's do it,' as he argued that Thompson didn't 'have the courage to hold [Kohberger] accountable.' Kaylee's sister, Aubrie, also called the last-minute plea deal 'shocking and cruel,' saying it 'feels less like an act of justice and more like an afterthought.' The family explained that they met with prosecutors on Friday, when the attorneys 'vaguely mentioned a possible plea.' They claim prosecutors then moved forward with the deal without seeking any input from the victims' families and presented the arrangement on Sunday. At that point, the victims' families received an email from prosecutors explaining why they decided to stop pursuing the death penalty against their wishes. 'We cannot fathom the toll that this case has taken on your family,' the letter, seen by the Idaho Statesman, reads. 'This resolution is our sincere attempt to seek justice for your family,' prosecutors continued, noting that they, 'weighed the right path forward and made a formal offer' to the murder suspect, according to ABC News. This agreement ensures that the defendant will be convicted, will spend the rest of his life in prison, and will not be able to put you and the other families through the uncertainty of decades of post-conviction, appeals. Your viewpoints weighed heavily in our decision-making process, and we hope that you may come to appreciate why we believe this resolution is in the best interest of justice.' It was signed by Thompson and his deputy Ashley Jennings, and noted that Kohberger would be sentenced to life in prison in late July should he accept the plea deal on Wednesday. But i f he does not plead as expected, the scheduled trial will continue as planned. After receiving the letter, the Goncalves family said they were left 'scrambling'. 'We immediately jumped into panic mode and started making phone calls and sending emails,' they said in a statement. 'We met with prosecution today to reiterate our views on pushing for the death penalty. Unfortunately all of our efforts did not matter,' the family lamented, claiming they had been 'branded adversaries' after they questioned the police investigation into the students' stabbing deaths. The Latah County Prosecutor's Office's treatment of our family during this process is something I wouldn't wish on anyone,' the Goncalves family concluded, arguing that county residents 'should be ashamed of its Prosecutor's Office'. 'After more than two years, this is how it concludes, with a secretive deal and a hurried effort to close the case without any input from the victims' families on the pleas details,' they wrote. 'Our family is frustrated right now and that will subside and we will come together as always and deal with the reality that we face moving forward.' The Goncalves family was not the only one upset by the news of the plea deal, however, as Xana Kernodle's aunt was reportedly so enraged that she was brought to tears. Kim Kernodle explained to TMZ that prosecutors told her Kohberger's defense team approached them with a plea deal and prosecutors agreed to go along with it to 'spare the families' the pain of a trial. She claimed the prosecutors were especially concerned that the families would have to see gruesome crime scene photos of their loved ones - though Kernodle said, 'We know the graphics. They were not trying to spare us.' Kernodle also claimed that prosecutors did not mention they were taking death penalty off the table when they met on Friday, when she said prosecutors acknowledged they have enough evidence to secure a guilty verdict. The State has previously laid out how Kohberger purchased a balaclava from Sporting Goods store months before the savage murders inside the victims' off-campus home. Surviving housemate Dylan Mortensen later told police she saw a man wearing 'the same kind of mask' during the crime spree. She also described seeing a man with 'bushy eyebrows' - which fit Kohberger's appearance. The murder suspect also bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath and sharpener from Amazon back in March 2022, according to a prosecution filing, and was ultimately linked to the murder of the four students by DNA found on the sheath of a knife found at the scene of their off-campus home. Data from Kohberger's cellphone also showed it connected to a cellphone tower near the victims' off-campus house a total of 23 times over the course of four months leading up to the grisly murders, according to court documents. Then, on the night of the November 13, 2022, prosecutors say Kohberger broke into the University of Idaho students' home on King Road shortly after they had gone to bed from a night of partying and stabbed them all to death. His white Hyundai Elantra was allegedly caught on a neighbor's home security footage at around 3.30am, and was seen circling around the block multiple times over the next half hour. By 4.07am, the vehicle came back drove by once again - then didn't come back into view until 4.20am, when it was seen speeding off. During that 13-minute window, sources close to the investigation told NBC's Dateline that Kohberger went directly upstairs to Mogen's bedroom, where he allegedly killed her and Goncalves. He is accused of the turning his attention to Kernodle on his way back out the house, killing her as she was up ordering food, and then targeting her boyfriend, Chapin, whom Kohberger allegedly 'carved'. Meanwhile, data from Kohberger's phone indicate he turned it off before 3am that morning, and when he apparently turned it back on at around 4.48am, it connected with a cellphone tower south of Moscow. But the phone also appeared to be briefly back in the city shortly after 9am, when Kohberger reportedly returned to his apartment in Pullman, Washington, where he took a chilling selfie, giving the thumbs up pose in a bathroom mirror. In the aftermath, Kohberger allegedly searched to buy a replacement knife and sheath. He was ultimately arrested nearly six weeks after the students were found dead at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania where he had returned for the holidays. Kohberger has remained behind bars ever since, and has been desperately trying to get the death penalty off the table over the past few months - even arguing at one point that his autism diagnosis precludes him from facing the ultimate punishment. In more recent efforts, Kohberger's defense attorneys tried to get his purchase of the balaclava deemed inadmissible to the upcoming trial, but prosecutors argued it was crucial to their case. It now appears that the defense moved to reach a plea deal after Judge Hippler slapped down their efforts to point the finger at four alternate suspects - blasting his legal team's evidence as 'entirely irrelevant' and 'wild speculation.' 'Nothing links these individuals to the homicides or otherwise gives rise to reasonable inference that they committed the crime; indeed, it would take nothing short of rank speculation by the jury to make such a finding,' the judge wrote in his decision last week. Just hours before news of the plea deal broke, the defense faced another setback after they apparently called the wrong witness and other witnesses expressed their bewilderment at being called at all.
