Idaho Murders: Bryan Kohberger Defense Says Surviving Roommate Testimony Can CLEAR Him!

Well, this is yet another unexpected wrinkle…

We’ve heard a mountain of evidence the authorities have found linking Bryan Kohberger to the murders of four University of Idaho students. Phone data, traffic cams, and more put the Washington State grad student in the area, there’s DNA evidence on a knife sheath left at the scene, not to mention he seems to have been following the three female victims — roommates Maddie Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, and Xana Kernodle — both online AND in person. But could we just be learning about the first exculpatory evidence in the case? And could that evidence really be given by one of the two surviving roommates after her friends were brutally killed??

Kohberger’s defense seems to think so. Investigator Richard Bitonti claims, in docs obtained by The New York Times over the weekend, that surviving roommate Bethany Funke has evidence that could help clear the suspected murderer! Bitonti, who is working for public defender Anne Taylor‘s office, explained in an affidavit that Bethany “has information material to the charges against Mr. Kohberger”:

“Portions of information Ms. Funke has is exculpatory to the defendant. Ms. Funke’s information is unique to her experiences and cannot be provided by another witness.”

Unfortunately for all involved, after her horrible ordeal, Bethany moved away from Idaho altogether. The court docs revealed she now resides in Nevada. So Kohberger’s team is fighting to get Bethany to return to the state for his preliminary probable cause hearing on June 28.

The thing is… Bethany apparently has no intentions of coming back to help Bryan Kohberger.

Her attorneys are fighting the order to appear, calling it a “foreign subpoena” that isn’t enforceable since she now lives in another state. Per the official response:

“There is also no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to an Idaho matter without a hearing and there is no authority to summon a Nevada witness to an Idaho matter without a Nevada Judge making a finding of materiality, necessity and the lack of undue hardship.”

They added:

“A preliminary hearing is not meant to become a mini-trial due to its limited purpose in deciding of probable cause.”

So they’re basically saying… the witness herself doesn’t actually need to be present for the judge to look at the same evidence the investigator did — and decide for herself whether it’s “material and necessary.” It seems like a fair point to us. Obviously we want the whole truth to come out and no stone to be left unturned in this trial — but this girl is one of the victims here. The system should be doing everything it can to protect all of the survivors as much as possible, right?

As for how likely this evidence is to actually help Kohberger? We have no idea, as the precise information was not revealed in these docs. It is noteworthy that the other surviving roommate, Dylan Mortensen, said, per a probable cause affidavit, that she heard the struggle and then saw a masked man leaving the house. The defense doesn’t seem interested in her testimony though. Are they just grasping at straws? Or does Bethany really know something that could help Kohberger??

We may not know the answer to that for some time. The Idaho Supreme Court ruled on Monday that the gag order blocking law enforcement and court officials from revealing any details about the case will stay in place for now. Of course, there are always leaks…

What do YOU think of this latest twist in the case?

[Image via KREM 2 News/YouTube/Kaylee Goncalves/Instagram.]