Bryan Kohberger returned to court, making his first appearance before a judge in 2025. You can read the full court transcripts for both days by clicking here.
The suspect accused of murdering four University of Idaho students arrived in a Boise courtroom on Thursday, dressed in a full suit and clean-shaven. This marks a change from his last mugshot in September, where he was seen with a thin beard.
Attorneys for Bryan Kohberger urged a judge to dismiss much of the evidence in the case, citing concerns over the constitutionality of the genetic investigation process used by law enforcement.
The defense team argued during a two-day hearing, starting Thursday, that the use of investigative genetic genealogy (IGG) violated Kohberger’s constitutional rights. They also claimed that police misconduct tainted search warrants for his apartment, car, cellphone, DNA, and his parents’ home. If successful, their motion could significantly undermine the prosecution’s case ahead of the trial scheduled for August. Prosecutors, however, insist the investigation, including the IGG process, was conducted properly.
Kohberger appeared serious during the proceedings, closely following as his lawyers sparred with the prosecution over potentially critical pieces of evidence.
Part of the hearing was held behind closed doors to avoid influencing potential jurors with evidence that may not be admissible at trial. In the public portion, the judge appeared skeptical of the defense’s argument regarding the constitutionality of the search.
The IGG process, used when traditional law enforcement DNA databases yield no results, involves uploading DNA variations, known as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), to genealogy databases like GEDmatch or FamilyTreeDNA to identify possible relatives. In this case, investigators used IGG to analyze “touch DNA” found on the sheath of a knife recovered from the home where the students were fatally stabbed. The process reportedly led to Kohberger being identified as a suspect.
The defense also alleges law enforcement intentionally or recklessly provided false or incomplete information to obtain search warrants, calling for the exclusion of all evidence gathered through those searches. However, details of the alleged police misconduct remain sealed by Judge Steven Hippler, along with many documents related to the IGG evidence.
Read the full court transcript below:
