Prosecution objects to Kohberger’s death penalty challenge

The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office filed multiple objections to Bryan Kohberger’s requests to strike the death penalty in his case this week.

Kohberger’s attorneys filed several arguments in September challenging the death penalty option if the murder suspect is convicted. Kohberger’s jury trial is set to begin Aug. 11, 2025.

Kohberger’s attorneys pointed to factors like vagueness in death penalty laws, public opinion against the punishment and the argument that it violates international treaties.

Prosecutor Bill Thompson and his team argued that previous court cases and Idaho Supreme Court rulings negate Kohberger’s arguments.

“A majority of the states, the military, and the federal government continue to allow the death penalty as a sentencing option,” the prosecution wrote in its argument regarding public opinion on capital punishment.

In response to Kohberger’s argument that methods of the death penalty are inhumane, Thompson argued that those methods have been deemed constitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

The prosecution also argued international treaties tolerate the use of capital punishment in the U.S. and other countries for serious crimes.

The full list of motions for and against the use of the death penalty can be found at coi.isc.idaho.gov.

The prosecution and defense will argue their points in person during a Nov. 7 hearing in Ada County District Court.

Kohberger faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the November 2022 stabbing deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin.

Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.