Idaho University murders suspect Bryan Kohberger will return to court this month

Idaho University murders suspect Bryan Kohberger will appear in court a month earlier than expected as the parents of one of the victims challenge a gag order.

Judge Megan Marshall scheduled a May 25 hearing for 28-year-old criminology Ph.D. student accused of brutally murdering four students in their sleep on November 13.

Kohberger is also later expected at the Latah County courthouse for a preliminary hearing on June 28, where his defense is expected to challenge the evidence against him.

But he will appear first for the motion hearing held this weekend to address a gag order motion.

“That’s the date the court will hear my motion on the gag order,” said Shanon Gray, attorney for Steve and Kristie Goncalves. Fox News digital.

Kohberger is charged with one count of felony burglary and four counts of first-degree murder in the deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

The judge had previously said she would hear the gag order motion only after the Idaho Supreme Court ruled on an appeal from the media.

But the the state’s highest court rejected that appeal, holding that it should have gone to a lower court.

It was revealed last week that 21-year-old Bethany Funke, a surviving roommate of the four murdered University of Idaho students, has agreed to be interviewed by Kohberger’s defense team.

Funke will meet with her home’s attorney in Reno, Nevada, after trying to argue that she shouldn’t testify at the various court hearings.

Court documents previously showed that Funke’s lawyers argued she should not testify at a preliminary hearing in June, or for the duration of the trial.

In new documents filed Wednesday, both parties agreed that the defense would go to Funke for an interview in Nevada, rejecting a subpoena they issued on April 11.

It means the surviving housemate may not be forced to appear at the preliminary hearing on June 28, depending on what information she gives to detectives.

Investigator Richard Bitonti, who works for Kohberger’s defense team, subpoenaed Fukne because she may have “exculpatory” information.

They claimed the information she has is “material and necessary” to the alleged killer’s defense — though it’s unclear exactly what that is.

Bitonti wrote in an affidavit: “In the course of my investigation, that became known to me [she] has information material on the charges against Mr. Kohberger.’

He added that she revealed “things she had heard and things she saw” during police questioning and was present when the police were called.

However, Funke’s lawyers hit back, saying the preliminary hearing is not intended to “become a mini-trial,” and is only intended to decide probable cause.

They also said the subpoena was filed in error and there is no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to Idaho for a preliminary hearing.

As a potential witness, Funke can willingly testify at the hearings, but if she refuses, a subpoena may force her to come to court even if she doesn’t want to.

If a witness refuses to testify after being ordered to do so, they could be detained by subpoena for contempt of court and fined $500 or jailed for 25 days.

However, they can invoke their Fifth Amendment rights while testifying at the hearing if it could implicate them in a crime.

According to Office Brett Payne’s statement, both Funke and the other surviving roommate Dylan Mortensen were home at the time of the murders.

Funke’s bedroom is said to be on the east side of the first floor of the property, and she heard Ethan Chapin and Xana Kernodle returning to the property at 1:45 a.m. the night of the murders.

Mortensen’s account of seeing a “tall man” who was “dressed in black clothes and a mask” is described in the document.

However, Funke’s version of events has not been released publicly, although both roommates’ phones have been forensically downloaded by officers – leading them to believe the crimes took place between 4:00 AM and 4:25 AM.

It’s unclear what the defense investigators think might clear Kohberger, but if Funke’s version of events contradicts Mortensen’s, it could play a key role in the process.

For now, a gag remains in effect, preventing anyone connected with the case from speaking publicly.

Kohberger has yet to enter a plea to the quadruple homicide and is charged with four counts of murder and one count of burglary.

It comes after it was revealed that his lawyer on his case will be paid $200 an hour – with any additional overtime.

Lead defense attorney Anne Taylor is paid by Kootenai County for her 40-hour work week, with Latah County agreeing to give the money to Kootenai for her work.

But any overtime she accrues outside of those hours is paid by Latah County directly to the attorney, with a second attorney supporting Taylor on the case paid $180 per hour.

Taylor is representing the 28-year-old criminal justice major after stepping down as attorney for Cara Northington – the mother of the slain Xana Kernodle, 20.

She was in charge of her case until January 5, the same day Kohberger was extradited to Idaho from his Pennsylvania home.

The lawyer is also charged with a second conflict of interest in the case after it was revealed that she represented Maddie Mogen’s stepmother, Korie Hatrock, in June 2022 and oversaw a case involving her father, Benjamin, in 2020.