Idaho Murder Suspect’s Attorney Says FBI Interfered With Witness

An attorney for a quadruple murder suspect in Idaho is claiming FBI agents interfered with a witness involved in the case.

Newsweek reported Monday that Anne Taylor, the main attorney for Bryan Kohberger, 28, who has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary, said during a recent court appearance that witness Gabriella Vargas, a genetic genealogy expert, “was visited by two FBI agents and interrogated about her testimony.”

“That, in our view, impacts Mr. Kohberger’s due process right,” Taylor said, according to Newsweek, which cited court network Law & Crime.

Kohberger stood silent during his arraignment in May and a not guilty plea on each charge was entered on his behalf by Latah County District Judge John Judge. Kohberger is charged in the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20, and Xana Kernodle, 20, students at the University of Idaho who were killed in an off-campus residence in November.

Newsweek reported Latah County prosecutor Bill Thompson responded in court by saying he “reached out to investigators and said, ‘Can you find out what’s going on?'” Thompson added the request for FBI agents to speak with Vargas was in response to her possibly questioning parts of her own testimony.

At the time of the murders, Kohberger was a graduate student studying criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, which is about 7 miles from the University of Idaho campus in Moscow. He was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30.

Newsweek reported it reached out to Kohberger’s attorney and the FBI for comment.