Idaho crimes: Judge rules out autism mitigation, prosecutors may seek death penalty for Kohberger

The diagnosed autism of Bryan Kohberger, the prime suspect in the University of Idaho murders, will not be a mitigating factor to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty. The judge in charge of the case ruled out this mitigating reason and now the defendant could face the death penalty, if convicted in the deaths of four students in 2022.

Kohberger, 30, is charged with the stabbing deaths of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves in a rental house near the Moscow, Idaho, campus on Nov. 13, 2022.

That year, the deaths of the four young men completely shook the Moscow Township and the University of Idaho, which until then had gone years without any such violent incidents.

For months, prosecutors had already announced that they intended to seek the death penalty for Kohberger, the only suspect arrested in the case. The defendant's defense then requested a medical report to prove that the defendant suffers from autism, in the hope of thus avoiding the death penalty.

Contrary to the defense's contention, prosecutors argued that the only mental disability that precludes the imposition of the death penalty is an intellectual disability. Kohberger's diagnosis was mild autism.

The judge in charge of the case ultimately ruled in favor of the prosecution. The judge's ruling held that "not only has the defendant failed to demonstrate that ASD (autism spectrum disorder) is equivalent to an intellectual disability, but he has also failed to demonstrate that there is a national consensus against subjecting individuals with ASD to capital punishment."

A case with many unknowns

The murder of Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle, Kaylee Goncalves and Madison Mogen on November 13, 2022 remains a mystery to the public. The students' deaths deeply scarred the Moscow university campus. There had been no murders in this rural Idaho town since 2015 and fears of a serial killer on campus grew in the community.

On the night of the events, Chapin and Kernodle, who were a couple, returned to the housing Kernodle shared with five other students at the university. So did Goncalves and Mogen, who were at a bar until about 1 a.m.

Phone activity and a food delivery orders prove that all the victims were still alive at around 4 am. Someone would have had to enter the dwelling without picking the locks before killing all four victims with a stabbing weapon.

The two other girls who occupied the dwelling and were in their room survived the attack and did not suffer any attempted assault. One of them believes she saw the killer when she heard noises and peeked through her door. Police received a first emergency call at 11:58 a.m.