Bryan Kohberger trial delay buys defense time to build alibi, concerns about memory of lone witness

There's one known eyewitness to the University of Idaho student murders – a housemate who overheard sounds of a struggle and came face to face with a masked intruder on the night four undergrads were stabbed to death in Moscow, Idaho.

By the time the case goes to trial, years will have passed, with potential implications for her memory of the events.

Meanwhile, suspect Bryan Kohberger's defense has bought more time to build up an alibi and pore over vast amounts of other evidence. Latah County District Judge John Judge is still weighing scheduling and a defense motion to have the trial moved to another county. And the victims' families are still waiting for justice.

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"I'm listening carefully to both sides, and it's a complicated case," he said during a Wednesday hearing. "It's a death penalty case."

After Kohberger's arrest at the end of December 2022, a trial had been penciled in for October 2023. Kohberger waived his right to speedy proceedings, postponing the trial. More recently, prosecutors requested a trial date for this June, but the defense asked for more time to prepare – seeking a date no earlier than the summer of 2025.

This illusion by everyone involved that they can control what happens is frustrating. A jury will hear the evidence and return a verdict. But we need to get there sooner rather than later.

— Joint statement from the families of Kalyee Goncalves and Xana Kernodle

BRYAN KOHBERGER ASKS COURT FOR CHANGE OF VENUE AFTER DELAYS IN IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS TRIAL

The families of two victims, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, and Xana Kernodle, 20, said in a joint statement that regardless of when the case goes to trial, everything will be reviewed with a fine-toothed comb, whether on appeal or by the public.

"We want to start healing, we do, we want to find justice and try to move on from this horrible tragedy, so please, please, start making some decision, get to work and quit playing the delay game," they said through their attorney Shanon Gray. 

The other victims were Goncalves' best friend, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20.

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Long delays could have a negative impact on witnesses for the defense, said James Scozzari, a Michigan-based attorney who has represented murder suspects at trial.

"Witnesses forget events or even die, depending on the length of time between charges… and trial," he told Fox News Digital. "The defendant essentially loses his ability to confer with potential defense witnesses, or even to keep track of their whereabouts. Hard to present a defense in those situations. Also, evidence gets lost or destroyed."

Although Kohberger waived his Sixth Amendment right to a speedy trial, legal precedent upholds that the "passage of time makes proof of any fact more difficult," he said. 

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That cuts both ways, impacting prosecutors as well.

"The delays are bad for the prosecution," said Neama Rahmani, a former assistant U.S. attorney whose cases included the successful prosecution of a fugitive killer featured on "America's Most Wanted," Logan Quiroga.

"Witness memories fade and evidence can disappear over time, and the victims’ families deserve justice," Rahmani added.

If the defense doesn't expect helpful testimony from the lone eyewitness, delays could be part of their plan, said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice. But that's not his main concern.

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"Delay until everyone forgets or dies," he told Fox News Digital. "I have worries about the case, delays aren’t one of them."

Those issues, he said, are related to physical evidence in the case.

"I have two big ones," he said. "How the crime scene was handled and what, if anything, was found in his vehicle. There’s no way you could pull a vicious scene like that off without transferring blood out into the snow and into his vehicle."

Giacalone has questioned the integrity of the crime scene during the early stages of the investigation, the eventual release of the scene and personal effects inside the home, and the destruction of the building.

"Did the gatekeeper keep a record of who entered the crime scene, at what time, what they did and what time they left?" he asked. "Lots of video where the cop never gets out of the car. Was there a sign-in sheet inside? Who was supervising it was being used?"

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He took issue with the decision to return the victims' belongings to family members while police were still monitoring the scene. And he highlighted the initial decision to bring in a cleaning crew to clear out the house, which was canceled the following day before a suspect had been arrested and defense investigators arrived.

Kohberger, a 29-year-old Pennsylvania criminology Ph.D. student, was attending Washington State University in Pullman, across the state line from Moscow, Idaho, where prosecutors allege he entered an off-campus home around 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022, and massacred four students with a large knife.