June 26 (UPI) — Idaho state attorneys filed a notice Monday that they intend to seek the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger, who is accused in the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students.
Prosecutor William W. Thompson Jr. wrote in the court filing that, considering the evidence and a lack of any mitigating circumstances, the state will pursue the death penalty. The prosecution can withdraw the notice as it receives and reviews additional information.
Several aggravating circumstances have informed the prosecutor’s decision to pursue capital punishment. The alleged crimes are described by Thompson as “especially heinous, atrocious or cruel,” and were committed with “utter disregard for human life.”
Thompson also wrote that based on the evidence, Kohberger has exhibited a “propensity to commit murder which will probably constitute a continuing threat to society.”
Kohberger, 28, was indicted in May on charges of first-degree murder in the killings of Xana Kernodle, 20; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; and Kernodle’s boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20. The victims were found stabbed to death in a house off the Washington State University campus in Moscow, Idaho, in November. At the time of the killings, Kohberger was a student at that school.
Kohberger was arrested at his family home in Pennsylvania in December after a search for a suspect that spanned multiple weeks.
Kohberger remained silent during his arraignment.
Last week, investigators matched DNA samples taken from the scene to samples taken from inside Kohberger’s cheek.
The trial is set to begin on Oct. 2. For Kohberger to be given the death penalty, the jury must unanimously find that at least one of the aggravating circumstances of the case is applicable and unanimously decide the death penalty should be imposed.
