Moscow, Idaho – A judge’s ruling on Thursday allows prosecutors to pursue the death penalty against Bryan Kohberger for the murders of four University of Idaho students in 2022, even after his recent autism diagnosis. The 30-year-old Kohberger faces charges for the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen, and Kaylee Goncalves at a rental home near the university campus in Moscow.
According to prosecutors, the intention to seek the death penalty if Kohberger is found guilty has been set for his trial scheduled to commence in August. However, defense attorneys have petitioned Judge Steven Hippler to eliminate capital punishment as a potential consequence, citing Kohberger’s autism spectrum disorder diagnosis. They have also raised various other legal challenges against the death penalty, including alleged violations by the state in terms of evidence presentation.
In court documents, defense attorneys argued that Kohberger’s autism spectrum disorder diminishes his culpability, undermines the retributive and deterrent purposes of the death penalty, and exposes him to the risk of wrongful conviction and sentencing to death. They contended that executing an individual with autism would violate the ban against cruel and unusual punishment as outlined in the Eighth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
In response, prosecutors cited U.S. Supreme Court precedents that specify only intellectual disability as a mental condition that would prevent imposition of the death penalty, noting that Kohberger’s autism diagnosis did not include intellectual impairment. Judge Hippler concurred with the prosecution’s argument, stating that autism spectrum disorder, while a mitigating factor, does not disqualify an individual from facing the death penalty.
At the time of the November 2022 killings, Kohberger was a graduate student in criminal justice at Washington State University, located approximately 10 miles from Moscow in Pullman. He was apprehended in Pennsylvania weeks after the crimes, as investigators matched his DNA to genetic material recovered from a knife sheath at the crime scene. Autopsies revealed that the victims were likely asleep when attacked, sustaining multiple stab wounds, some with defensive injuries.
The case has prompted a legal debate on the intersection of mental health conditions and criminal culpability, raising questions about the application of the death penalty in cases involving individuals with autism. As the trial approaches, the proceedings are likely to delve further into these complex legal and ethical considerations.
