Latest news with #JudgeStevenHippler
Fox News
21-05-2025
- Fox News
Bryan Kohberger case leak could lead to excluded evidence, Idaho attorney warns
An Idaho-based lawyer said she thinks Judge Steven Hippler will "absolutely" hold prosecutors and law enforcement accountable after sensitive information about the Bryan Kohberger quadruple murder case was leaked. A TV episode about the murders of four University of Idaho students was aired on May 9 and featured new cellphone records, surveillance video, search records and more. Kohberger is accused of killing Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20. New information about the murders was shared during the May 9 NBC "Dateline" program, which included surveillance video from a nearby house. The surveillance video showed a car similar to Kohberger's that was in the area of the King Road house several times just before the four students were killed. The program also claimed that FBI cellphone tower data showed that Kohberger's cellphone pinged nearly a dozen times to a tower that provides coverage to an area within 100 feet of 1122 King Road, where he allegedly killed the four students. Edwina Elcox, a criminal defense attorney in Boise, Idaho, told Fox News Digital she thinks Hippler is taking the leak very seriously. "I think prosecutors/law enforcement will absolutely be held accountable," Elcox said, noting she has worked on cases with Hippler as the judge. Elcox said she "absolutely" thinks it's possible for evidence presented during the TV episode to be excluded in court. "Can you imagine if the remedy for this was all that evidence being excluded?" Elcox said. "I ABSOLUTELY think that is in the realm of remedies." "Not only should it never have happened under any circumstances, there was the gag order," she added. Hippler said Thursday in an order that the court's gag order was "likely" violated by someone who, at one point, was associated with either law enforcement or the prosecution team. Hippler ordered anyone who worked with either law enforcement or prosecutors on this case to retain all communications and data relating to the murder investigation. "Such violations not only undermine the rule of law, potentially by persons charged with upholding it, but also significantly impede the ability to seat an impartial jury and will likely substantially increase the cost to be borne by the taxpayers of Latah County to prosecute this case by extending the time it will take to seat a jury and potentially requiring lengthy period of juror sequestration," Hippler wrote. Hippler also said he's open to appointing a special prosecutor who'd investigate where the leak came from, but hasn't yet made a decision. He gave a seven-day deadline to prosecutors, who were ordered to submit a list, on camera, of all individuals within law enforcement and the prosecuting agencies that have access to the information shared during the episode. Idaho Statesman Investigative Reporter Kevin Fixler told Fox News' "America Reports" he was surprised when the "Dateline" episode aired. "I have been on this case since literally day one, and this was a surprise. A lot of this information that was released just two and a half months before trial. So we're trying to better understand where that came from," Fixler said. Forensic expert and Jacksonville State University Professor Joseph Scott Morgan told Fox News Digital there's a risk that the TV episode on Kohberger will taint the jury pool. "I think the first place you have to look is the tainting of the pool, of the jury pool," Morgan said. "Progressively, it becomes more and more difficult because people form opinions, they put things out there that are not true, and you still have yet to pick a jury. And it's not like you're going to Manhattan. You're talking about Ada County, Idaho. You have a limited pool of potential jurors there." "They need to find out who's inside that investigative bubble that would release all of this digital data because you're talking about a copious amount, not just a new video that we're seeing that had never been seen before," Morgan added. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE TRUE CRIME HUB Morgan said the leak might have the biggest impact if Kohberger decides to file an appeal, after a jury hands down a decision. "Afterwards, if in fact [Kohberger] is found guilty, his attorneys are going to have a field day with stuff like this," he said. Former Assistant U.S. Attorney Neama Rahmani told Fox News Digital he doesn't think the leak will have much of an impact on the case. "People should follow court orders, but this is more bluster than anything and I don't think much will come of it. This is what happens when you have a very broad gag order and it takes 3.5 years to finally get a murder case to trial. It's not realistic to expect evidence not being leaked to the media for years in the biggest murder trial in the country," Rahmani said.
Daily Mail
16-05-2025
- Daily Mail
Idaho quadruple murder case in jeopardy as judge launches probe after leak to the media
trial has been thrown into disarray as the judge has revealed that sensitive details about the case have been leaked to the press, which could make it harder to find impartial jurors for the August trial. Judge Steven Hippler has ordered a new investigation as he seeks to discover the source behind the leak. The case has been plagued by setbacks as his defense team scrambled to have evidence thrown out, the death penalty ruled out and, most recently, point the finger at another potential suspect. But now, Judge Hippler issued an extraordinary rebuke by revealing 'sensitive information not previously publicly circulated' had been leaked to Dateline. 'It appears likely that someone currently or formally associated with law enforcement, or the prosecution team, violated this Court's non-dissemination order,' he wrote in a new filing released Thursday. Certain facts of the case have been withheld from the public to preserve the integrity of the investigation. Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted of the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Two other housemates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, survived. 'Such violations not only undermine the rule of law, potentially by persons charged with upholding it, but also significantly impede the ability to seat an impartial jury,' the judge added, warning that the offenders' actions have likely 'substantially increased the cost to be borne by the taxpayers' because it will now likely take longer to find jurors. Jury selection will take place behind closed doors on July 30 and Judge Hippler put every single official with a connection to the case on high alert over the new investigation. He wrote in his memo: 'All persons who at any time, past or present, worked directly or indirectly [on this case]... are hereby prohibited from deleting, discarding, overwriting, destroying, altering or otherwise making unavailable any... records, files, documents, metadata, messages, emails, text messages, direct or private messages, phone logs or logs of communications.' He went on to specify that this order must be adhered to regardless of whether the information was stored on a work owned or personal device: 'All such Documents or materials or records that could potentially constitute a Document - even if it is uncertain whether such meet that criteria shall be preserved and must be protected from deletion, alteration or loss until further order of the Court. 'Any feature on any device or account that is set to automatically delete or overwrite information that could be covered by this Order must immediately be disabled.' Judge Hippler ordered authorities to hand over to the court a list of 'all individuals within law enforcement and prosecuting agencies, past or present, who are known to have had access to any facts related to the investigation'. He is particularly interested in learning who had access to surveillance videos of Kohberger, AT&T records of his phone, the content of his phone and social media accounts. The judge is also seeking the names of any person who was aware of Kohberger's internet search history, photographs, or details of his Amazon account. These specifications are in direct response to the exclusive details aired on a recent Dateline episode studying the case. The program revealed the criminology PhD student called his dad Michael Kohberger three times on the morning of November 13, 2022, just two hours after the slayings. According to Dateline, Kohberger made several searches around serial killer Ted Bundy - who was put to death for a string of murders including the killings of female students in a sorority house in Florida. In the days after the murders, Kohberger also allegedly watched shows about the serial killer. He also searched and listened to the Britney Spears's song Criminal. Other online searches after the murders show the suspect was researching the killings - as well as his own name, the show reported. Dateline also claimed that the intended target of the attack was believed to be Madison, and that it took the killer by surprise to find her best friend, Kernodle, sharing her bed. Judge Hippler warned that if he does not receive the information he has requested, he could find the person responsible to be in contempt of court, and they could face criminal consequences. 'Within seven days the State must also provide to the Court a written plan designed to address and prevent the future unauthorized disclosure of information related to this case,' he wrote.
Fox News
15-05-2025
- Fox News
Judge says gag order 'likely' violated in Bryan Kohberger's Idaho murder case
An Idaho judge said on Wednesday it's "likely" someone associated with law enforcement or the prosecution violated a gag order after "sensitive information" was aired during a TV episode about the Bryan Kohberger case in May. On May 9, a TV episode about Bryan Kohberger case aired which featured new cell phone records, search records, surveillance video and more. Kohberger is accused of killing Xana Kernodle, 20, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, and Ethan Chapin, 20. New information shared during the "Dateline" episode included surveillance video from a nearby house showing a car similar to Bryan Kohberger's that was in the area of the King Road house several times just before the four students were killed. The episode also claimed that FBI cellphone tower data showed that Kohberger's cellphone pinged nearly a dozen times to a tower that provides coverage to an area within 100 feet of 1122 King Road, where the four University of Idaho students were killed. In a Thursday afternoon order, Judge Steven Hippler said the court's gag order was "likely" violated by someone, who at one point, was associated with law enforcement or the prosecution team. Hippler ordered anyone who worked with law enforcement and prosecutors on this case to retain all communications and data relating to the murder investigation. The judge also ordered prosecutors to submit a list, on camera, of all individuals within law enforcement and the prosecuting agencies that have access to the information shared during the episode, giving them a seven-day deadline. Fox News Digital reached out to NBC for comment. This is a developing story.
Daily Mail
15-05-2025
- Daily Mail
BREAKING NEWS Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger's last dash for freedom... as his phone calls and porn searches are revealed
is making a string of last-ditch pleas to a judge in a final court hearing before he goes on trial for his life. The quadruple homicide suspect returned to a courtroom in Ada County, Idaho, Wednesday morning where Judge Steven Hippler is expected to make a series of decisions that will shape his looming capital murder trial this summer. This comes less than a week after bombshell new details emerged in the case, including Kohberger's phone calls to a family member after the murders, his chilling porn choices and disturbing online searches about serial killer Ted Bundy. During the 11th-hour hearing, the prosecution and defense is going head-to-head one final time over what evidence jurors will be able to see in order to decide the fate of the accused killer. Among the final pieces of evidence still at play is Kohberger's eerie criminology research paper intricately detailing a fictional crime scene about a woman being stabbed to death at a trailer park. The 30-year-old PhD student could also finally reveal details about his claim of an alternative suspect in the case - with his defense planning to argue he was framed and that two killers must have committed the shocking crime. Phone records and bank transactions for both the accused killer and some of his alleged victims as well as surveillance footage from locations close to the crime scene are also likely to be discussed. The judge could also lay down rules for jury questionnaires and instructions and lists on exhibits and expert rebuttal witnesses for the sentencing phase could also be finalized. Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted of the brutal murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. The four University of Idaho students were all slaughtered in a horror knife attack in the early hours of November 13, 2022, inside the off-campus student home at 1122 King Road in Moscow, Idaho, that the three women shared with two other roommates. The two roommates - Bethany Funke and Dylan Mortensen - survived, with Mortensen coming face-to-face with the masked killer inside the home that haunting night. On December 30, 2022 - around six weeks on from the massacre - Kohberger was arrested at his parents' home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, and charged with the murders. He stood silent at his arraignment and a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf. Now, after more than two years of delays and legal wrangling - including the trial being moved to another county - the suspected killer who struck terror into the heart of a safe, tight-knit college town is finally heading to trial. Jury selection is slated to begin July 30, with the trial getting underway on August 11. The high-profile trial is expected to last around three months, barring the sentencing phase. If convicted, Kohberger faces the death penalty and, following recent changes in Idaho state law, he may even face the firing squad. To date, 13 separate defense efforts to take the death penalty off the table have been denied by the judge - including one where they cited his autism diagnosis as a reason to block capital punishment from the case. The judge has also dealt a series of other blows to Kohberger's defense strategy in recent weeks, ruling that jurors can hear the harrowing 911 call made by the victims' surviving roommates and see their panicked texts after Mortensen saw the masked killer inside their home. The judge has also ruled against Kohberger in allowing Mortensen to describe the man inside her home using the term 'bushy eyebrows.' Jurors will also be able to see Kohberger's Amazon shopping history, which prosecutors say reveals he bought a Ka-Bar knife, sheath and sharpener from Amazon back in March 2022. A matching sheath was found next to Mogen's body, with DNA on the sheath being traced back to Kohberger. The murder weapon has never been found. Since the last court hearing in April, it has come to light that Kohberger placed a series of phone calls to his dad Michael Kohberger just two hours after the horror stabbing spree. The 30-year-old criminology PhD student called his dad three times on the morning of November 13, 2022, according to explosive cell phone records obtained by NBC's Dateline. The calls began at 6.17am - just two hours after Kohberger is accused of murdering the four students at around 4am - and each lasted up to 54 minutes. What exactly the father and son spoke about remains a mystery. It is also unclear if this was typical behavior for Kohberger to call his father at that time. Kohberger's parents live in Pennsylvania, which is three hours ahead of Pullman - making the first call around 9am for Michael. Following those calls to his father, Kohberger allegedly returned to the scene of the murders, with his phone pinging off a cell tower close to 1122 King Road at 9.12am. Just one hour after that - at around 10.31am - the quadruple homicide suspect was back at his Pullman, Washington, apartment, where he snapped a creepy selfie posing with his thumbs up and an eerie smile as he stood in front of his shower. Over another hour passed before the bloodbath was discovered at 1122 King Road and the now-haunting 911 call was placed just before midday. The shocking revelation of the call records comes after prosecutors revealed they plan to call some of Kohberger's own family members to testify against him at his trial. Which family members will testify for the prosecution and why remain a closely-guarded secret. In the two-plus-years since his arrest, the Kohberger family has kept a low profile. The only public comments ever made by the family was a statement released immediately after his arrest where they said they 'care deeply for the four families who have lost their precious children', that they were cooperating fully with the investigation and that 'as a family we will love and support our son and brother.' In the April court hearing, Kohberger's lawyers revealed that the family continues to support him and has 'no interest in helping' the prosecution in its case. New details have also emerged about Kohberger's online activity and behaviors around the time of the murders, including creepy selfies and disturbing porn and serial killer searches. According to Dateline, Kohberger made several searches around serial killer Ted Bundy - who was put to death for a string of murders including the killings of female students in a sorority house in Florida. On August 16, 2022 - three months before the murders - Kohberger allegedly Googled 'ted h7ndy' and one of his professors, including a paper she had written about Bundy. In the days after the murders, Kohberger - on multiple occasions - then also allegedly watched shows about the serial killer. On December 28, 2022 - just three days before his arrest - Kohberger then also allegedly watched a YouTube show named 'Ted Bundy: Essence of a Psychopath.' After watching that, Kohberger snapped a series of other selfies. These haunting images show the man soon to be charged with a brutal quadruple homicide dressed in a black hoody and staring into the camera. The photo, Dateline reveals, appears to impersonate the hooded image of Bundy on the show he had watched that day. He also searched and listened to the Britney Spears' song Criminal. Other online searches after the murders show the suspect was researching the killings - as well as his own name, the show reported. Kohberger had also searched for pornography that included the words 'sleeping' and 'drugged.' He also had a trove of images of female students from WSU and UI, many of them in bikinis. The images, Dateline reported, appeared to have been taken from social media accounts of students who followed or were friends with either Kernodle, Goncalves or Mogen. Sources close to the investigation told Dateline that the intended target of the attack is believed to be Mogen - based in part on the path the killer allegedly took after entering the home, going straight up to her room on the third floor. It has now emerged that a sixth young woman was also supposed to be staying in the home that night - but a last-minute decision saved her life. Ashlin Couch's mom Angela Navejas told that Couch was best friends with Mogen and was the sixth roommate still on the lease at 1122 King Road at the time of the murders. Couch had moved out of the home in the summer of 2022 after graduating early. But she would often return to Moscow to spend weekends with her friends and would stay with Mogen when she did. She had planned to visit that weekend but her mom was on vacation in Florida and Hurricane Nicole had hit the Sunshine State - derailing her journey home. Navejas asked her daughter to stay at home and look after their dogs, and so the senior canceled her plans to join her friends. This last-minute cancellation may have saved her life.
CBS News
08-05-2025
- CBS News
Bryan Kohberger's family can attend Idaho murders trial — even if called to testify, judge rules
Bryan Kohberger's immediate family members will be allowed to attend his upcoming quadruple-murder trial in the stabbing deaths of four University of Idaho students, even if they might be called to testify, a judge ruled in an order made public Thursday. The order followed a previous court filing from prosecutors, which included a list of the family members they intended to call and explanations as to why each of those people should be kept out of the courtroom. After reviewing the list, Judge Steven Hippler said Kohberger's immediate family would not be included in that group. "Having considered the State's response, the Court—exercising its discretion—finds good cause to excuse Defendant's immediate family (i.e., parents and siblings) from the anticipated exclusion order," Hippler wrote in this week's decision. Witnesses in criminal cases are sometimes excluded from attending trials to prevent them from shaping their testimony in response to what other witnesses have said or what evidence has been presented. But Hippler wrote that Kohberger's Sixth Amendment right to a public trial also entitles him to have his parents and siblings present if they want to attend. "Courts recognize that having defendant's family members present at trial advances the values served by the right to public trial, i.e., ensuring fair proceedings; reminding the prosecutor and judge of their grave responsibilities; discouraging perjury; and encouraging witnesses to come forward," Hippler wrote. Kohberger, 30, a former graduate student in criminal justice at nearby Washington State University, is charged in the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near campus in Moscow, Idaho, on Nov. 13, 2022. He faces four counts of first degree murder. Early in the case, Kohberger stood silent when asked to enter a plea on the charges, and the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf. Prosecutors have said they intend to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is convicted at his trial, which is set to begin in August. From left: University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and Madison Mogen were found dead on November 13 at an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho. Hippler said the court must balance Kohberger's right to a public trial with the state's interest in obtaining forthright testimony from witnesses. But, he added, there is little risk of Kohberger's family members shaping what they might say from the witness stand in response to what they observe at the trial: The scope of their proposed testimony is narrow, and they have previously given recorded interviews that will help guard against them altering what they say. The judge also said the publicity around Kohberger's trial likely means his family members would be aware of the evidence and testimony expected in the prosecution's case, whether they are physically present in the courtroom or not. Hippler previously ruled that family members of the victims may attend the trial. Steve Goncalves, whose daughter was killed, attended a hearing with his wife in early April where attorneys debated what could be presented during Kohberger's trial.
