EYEWITNESS NEWS (WBRE/WYOU) — Bryan Kohberger was arraigned on Monday and pleaded not guilty to charges tied to the gruesome deaths of four Idaho college students.
Kohberger did not verbalize his plea in court, leading the judge to enter the plea on his behalf.
A federal grand jury indicted Kohbereger on Wednesday, May 17, on four counts of first-degree murder and burglary.
According to court papers, the prosecution took the case before a grand jury instead of holding a preliminary hearing, originally scheduled for June 26.
Prosecutors say Kohberger stands accused of breaking into a rental home near the University of Idaho and killing four college students in November 2022. Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin were found stabbed to death, according to law enforcement.
Investigators say Mogen, Kernodle, and Goncalves lived in the home with two more people, while Chaplin, Kernodle’s boyfriend, was spending the night.
Police say Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminal justice in Washington at the time of the murders on November 13.
Kohberger was found and arrested in Monroe County after a search warrant was executed at a home on 119 Lamsden Drive in Albrightsville (Chestnuthill Township) on December 30, 2022.
Now that Kohberger pleaded not guilty, the case will head to trial and the state could seek the death penalty, according to state law.
A trial date has been set for Monday, October 2, 2023, at 8:30 a.m.
