Prosecutors may call Kohberger's family to testify in Idaho student murder case
Mar 27, 2025
There are new developments in the case of the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in their off-campus house.Brian Kohberger is set to go on trial in a few months for the 2022 crime and now, court documents
reveal prosecutors may call on his family to testify against him.As the families of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin prepare for the trial of the man accused of killing them, Kohberger wants his family members in court too.Watch the full story: Prosecutors may call Kohberger's family to testify in Idaho student murder caseBut in a new court filing, prosecutors say they may need to testify, and if they do, they can't attend the trial. "The defendant has a constitutional and statutory right to a 'public trial,' but that does not extend to defendant's choosing whom sits in the courtroom," prosecutors stated."In Idaho, homicide victims' families have the right to be in the courtroom during the entirety of the trial. The same is not true for the family members of a defendant, explained CBS News Legal Analyst Jessica Levinson. Kohberger's father was seen with him on a cross-country drive just one month after the murders, while a manhunt was ongoing. "At this point, it's not certain that the state will call any of the family members, including Kohberger's father, Levinson said. What's certain is that the state wants to preserve its opportunity to do so.""The state wants to make sure that people give testimony just based on their own observations on what they saw and heard, not what they see and hear in a courtroom because they want to help one side or hurt another, Levinson continued.Prosecutors have been building their case for months with the defense firing back to try to suppress pieces of evidence, including surveillance footage of a driver circling the students' home multiple times just before police say the murders happened.The judge has entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger's behalf, and prosecutors are expected to finalize the witness list next month before the trial, which is set for this summer. ...read more read less