Accused quadruple murderer Bryan Kohberger could find yourself on death row on the state’s gnarliest maximum-security prison, in accordance with a legal expert.
“I would definitely think [the death penalty] can be [requested],” Idaho criminal defense attorney Jim Siebe told NonStop Local this week of Kohberger, 28, who’s accused of murdering 4 University of Idaho students in a knife attack which has captivated the nation.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ Albrightsville, Pennsylvania home last week in connection to Nov. 13 murders and is being extradited today. In Idaho, he faces 4 murder charges as well as to 1 charge of felony burglary.
“After all, I can’t speak for [Latah County prosecutor] Bill Thompson,” Siebe continued.
“He’s the one which makes the determination…based on consultation with law enforcement people, with the families [of the victims], [and] some determination as to the private circumstances of a defendant, where perhaps a defendant is subject to a severe mental illness.”
Kohberger, a graduate student in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, lived around 10 miles from the off-campus residence where the early-morning killings took place. Classmates described him as a quiet and “perpetually exhausted” loner, but noted he became “chattier” within the wake of the murders.
At his extradition hearing Tuesday, presiding Judge Margherita Worthington asked: “Mr. Kohberger, do you suffer from any mental health diagnosis or take prescribed medication or medication that will impact ability to know what we’re doing here today?” .
“No,” he answered.
Prosecutor Bill Thompson’s couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.
Even Idaho officials do seek the death penalty for Kohberger, it’s unlikely the punishment can be carried out. In keeping with the Death Penalty Information Center, Idaho has only executed three people because the practice resumed in 1976.
The state’s last inmate to be executed, Richard Albert Leavitt, spent 26 years on death row before dying by lethal injection in 2012.
As of 2023, there are eight inmates – including one among the country’s few women sentenced to capital punishment, Robin Row – on Idaho’s death row. If found guilty after which sentenced to death, Kohberger would likely await execution on the Idaho Maximum Security Institution.
Situated within the South Boise Prison Complex, the intimidating campus features a double-perimeter fence reinforced with razor wire, and electronic detection system, and a 24-hour armed patrol.
News about Kohberger’s possible future accommodations in Idaho comes because the Warden Garry Handle dismissed rumors the suspect taunted guards on the Monroe County Correctional Facility over the weekend.
“His confinement…was uneventful,” he told the Idaho Statesman.
Kohberger was reportedly escorted from the Monroe County facility early Wednesday, and is anticipated to reach in Idaho inside several hours.