Idaho Murders Case: Bryan Kohberger's Lawyer Explains Lack of Emotion
There's a reason why Bryan Kohberger "does not show emotion on his face," according to his legal team.
In court documents obtained by NBC News and viewed by E! News, an attorney for Kohberger—who has been accused of being the perpetrator in the 2022 murders of University of Idaho students Madison Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin—voiced concerns of an "unfair bias" against the 30-year-old.
Arguing Kohberger demonstrates symptoms of autism spectrum disorder, his lawyer said the Washington State University alum "does not show expected reactions" and that his "facial expressions do not reflect what he is feeling."
"He has a flat affect, he sits very still and holds his hands in the same position, he has a piercing stare," Kohberger's attorney wrote in the filing. "He is stiff in body posture, he has prosody in speech, uses repetitive phrases and large words, and has developmental dexterity problems."
Furthermore, his legal team contended that Kohberger's obsessive compulsive disorder could possibly explain why he was wearing gloves and cleaning on the night of his arrest.
"The State asserts that this demonstrates that he had consciousness of guilt and was trying either to hide his DNA or engage in the cleaning of his car," Kohberger's attorney wrote in the docs. "This is highly prejudicial and misleading. Mr. Kohberger frequently wears gloves to avoid germs on surfaces."
His defense lawyer argued Kohberger was "not cleaning his car on the night of his arrest" as the prosecution alleged, but rather that the criminology student was "awake at night, as is typical for him, and he was cleaning his bathroom."
Kohberger's legal team is requesting that his upcoming trial include medical testimony about his disorder so the jury can be aware that his "physical presentation, including nonverbal reactions in the courtroom, is explained by his physical condition."
"To exclude this evidence will result in unfair bias that could cause a wrongful conviction," his attorney noted in the filing. "It will be relevant for the jury to know that Mr. Kohberger has a developmental coordination disorder that impacts his fine motor dexterity and visual motor function."
Kohberger's trial is set to begin Aug. 11, 2025.
For more about his case, keep reading.
(E! News and NBC News are both part of the NBCUniversal family.)
Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, were University of Idaho students who lived in an off-campus apartment.
On Nov. 12, 2022—the night before their bodies were found—Gonclaves and Mogen were at a nearby sports bar, while Kernodle and Chapin were at the latter’s fraternity party. By 2 a.m. on Nov. 13, the four roommates and Chapin were back at the three-story rental house.
Goncalves was a senior majoring in general studies at the College of Letters, Arts and Social Sciences. She was expected to graduate in December before heading to Austin, Tex., for a job at a marketing firm, her friend Jordyn Quesnell told The New York Times.
Mogen, who was studying marketing, was best friends with Gonglaves since the sixth grade. She had plans to move to Boise after graduation, family friend Jessie Frost shared with The Idaho Statesman.
Kernodle was a junior majoring in marketing, the University said at the time. She and Chapin—who majored in recreation, sport and tourism management—had been dating since the spring, the roommates’ neighbor Ellie McKnight told NBC News.
Two roommates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, had been home at the time of the murders. In text messages that were unsealed March 6, 2025, Mortensen and Funke tried contacting their roommates on Nov. 13 after the former saw a masked man moving through the house, according to documents obtained by E! News.
"No one is answering," Mortensen texted Funke at 4:22 a.m. "I'm rlly confused rn."
She continued to reach out to their roommates, urging them to respond. "Pls answer," she texted Goncalves at 4:32 a.m. and again at 10:23 a.m. "R u up??"
At 11:58 a.m., a 911 call was placed after Kernodle was found unresponsive, per an additional motion obtained by E! News. A woman named A1 in the transcript described the current situation to the operator.
"One of the roommates who's passed out and she was drunk last night and she's not waking up," she said on the phone. "They saw some man in their house last night."
Bryan Kohberger, who has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder, was a doctoral candidate at Washington State University. Over one month after the bodies of Gonclaves, Mogen, Kernodle and Chapin were discovered, Kohberger was taken into custody Dec. 30 in Monroe County, Penn. He was extradited to Idaho Jan. 4.
As for how authorities connected him to the killings? DNA was found on a knife sheath that was left at the crime scene, prosecutors revealed in June 2023 court documents, per NBC News.
When the DNA didn't match anyone in the FBI database, authorities ran the DNA through public ancestry websites to create a list of potential suspects, according to the filings. After learning that Kohberger had driven to his parents' home in Monroe County, local officials then went through their trash and found DNA that tied him to that found on the sheath.
At the moment, a motive for the attack has not been detailed and a gag order prevents many involved in the case from speaking publicly, NBC News reported. However, the unsealed documents provided some insight into their arguments.
Kohberger's attorneys argued in a motion obtained by E! News to strike the death penalty that Kohberger—who could face the death penalty if found guilty on all counts, a judge ruled in November 2024—has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and that executing him would violate the Eighth Amendment's prohibition on "cruel and unusual punishment."
His defense argued that Kohbereger "displays extremely rigid thinking, perseverates on specific topics, processes information on a piecemeal basis, struggles to plan ahead, and demonstrates little insight into his own behaviors and emotions."
"Due to his ASD, Mr. Kohberger simply cannot comport himself in a manner that aligns with societal expectations of normalcy," the motion said. "This creates an unconscionable risk that he will be executed because of his disability rather than his culpability."
Kohberger had a judge enter a not-guilty plea to the first-degree murder charges on his behalf after remaining silent at his May 2023 arraignment. Although his trial was set to begin Oct. 2, 2023, Kohberger waived his right to a speedy trial in August 2023.
His new trial date—which will take place in Ada County, more than 300 miles from Latah County, where the killings took place—is set to begin Aug. 11, 2025.
Latah County Judge John Judge ruled in favor of the transfer request made by Kohberger's defense in September 2024 based on "presumed prejudice" if the trial remained in Latah County. Ada County Judge Steven Hippler—who is now presiding over the case—denied the defense's request to suppress key DNA and other evidence, including cell phone and email records, surveillance footage, past Amazon purchases and DNA evidence in the trial.
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