STROUDSBURG, Pa. (AP) — On Monday, a Pennsylvania judge ruled that three witnesses that defense lawyers had asked to testify must fly to Idaho to attend the trial of a man who is suspected of killing four college students by stabbing them in 2022.
Subpoenas for the defense were given in relation to a boxing trainer who had known Bryan Kohberger as a teenager, Kohberger’s boyhood friend, and a third guy whose identity was unclear.
Weeks after the November 2022 killings, Kohberger, 30, was taken into custody at his parents’ Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, home. He is charged with breaking into a rental house in Moscow, Idaho, which is close to the University of Idaho campus, and attacking Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves.
Kohberger was a graduate student at Washington State University studying criminology when the fatalities occurred, shocking the remote Idaho village and the nearby town of Pullman, Washington.
Records from Kohberger’s time in the Monroe County Correctional Facility following his arrest were brought to court by a prison official; however, the subpoena hearing was postponed because Kohberger still needed to give a statement confirming the records’ veracity.
The hearing on a subpoena for Ralph Vecchio, who operates a vehicle dealership where Kohberger’s parents bought a Hyundai Elantra in 2019, was also postponed for a week by Common Pleas Judge Arthur Zulick.
It was unclear if Vecchio or his father, who controlled the company at the time of the purchase, was the target of the subpoena. Subpoenas for prosecution witnesses will also be in question next week, the court stated.
Due to a travel conflict, the hearing for the sixth witness was earlier rescheduled for next week. Last week, the defense obtained the consent of the seventh witness to go to Idaho for the trial, which is anticipated to start in August.
As the only provider for his family, Brandon Andreola unsuccessfully argued that his subpoena should be canceled because he fears that the exposure will cause him to lose his job.
Andreola claimed that since high school, he has had a limited and aloof contact with Bryan Kohberger, with their most recent meaningful encounter occurring in 2020, two years prior to the stabbings.
Andreola contended that if I’m taken out there, the attention I get will be several times more than what I’ve already gotten.
Although Jesse Harris claimed to have coached Kohberger at a boxing club when he was 15 or 16, he does not believe his testimony will support the prosecution. Harris added that he needed to manage a small construction company and that a relative’s health issues were a burden.
Andreola and Harris were summoned, and Zulick approved a third summons for witness Anthony Somma, who did not object. If a family member’s health problems prevent Harris from traveling to Idaho, Zulick stated that Harris is free to return to his courtroom.
In Boise, Idaho, Kohberger’s trial on four murder charges and one burglary charge is scheduled to start on August 11 after a court denied his attorney’s request for a postponement last week.
The death punishment is what the prosecution is aiming for.
According to a court document, Kohberger was driving alone for a considerable amount of time when the four were killed.
Because Kohberger did not speak at his arraignment, the judge entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
For the most part, a gag order has prevented lawyers, investigators, and others from discussing the investigation or trial in public. Abigail Parnell, the defense team’s attorney in the Monroe County Courthouse on Monday, opted not to speak.
