Attorneys for the Idaho murder suspect want a surviving roommate to testify. She is resisting the effort
By Cheri Mossburg and Jean Casarez, CNN
One of the surviving roommates in a stabbing attack that left four University of Idaho students dead is being asked by suspect Bryan Kohberger’s attorneys to testify in his upcoming preliminary hearing — a demand she is resisting, according to new court documents.
Kohberger’s attorneys are asking a Nevada court to compel Bethany Funke to travel to Idaho and testify as a witness for Kohberger in late June. Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall is set to preside over that hearing in Moscow, Idaho.
An affidavit from a defense investigator used in support of the subpoena claims Funke has information that is exculpatory to Kohberger. She is one of two people who survived the attack at a home.
“Ms. Funke’s information is unique to her experiences and cannot be provided by another witness,” according to court documents obtained by CNN.
An attorney for Funke, who returned to her hometown of Reno, Nevada, following the November 2022 killings, is pushing back against the subpoena.
Attorney Kelli Anne Viloria filed a motion Friday to quash the subpoena.
The motion argues the defense demand is without support “and there is no further information or detail pertaining to the substance of the testimony, its materiality, or the alleged exculpatory information of Ms. Funke or why it would be entertained at preliminary hearing.”
Further, Funke’s lawyer argued there was no hearing prior to the subpoena being issued, as required by Nevada law, and insisted that one take place before she can be compelled to testify in a trial, let alone a preliminary hearing.
Typically, a preliminary hearing is when prosecutors outline the evidence in a case before a judge, who will decide whether the trial moves forward.
It is not known at this point what information Funke has and whether it could help Kohberger and prevent the case from being bound over for trial.
Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder. If found guilty, he could face the death penalty.
Kohberger, 28, is charged in the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20.
The discovery of the bloody crime scene on November 13 shattered the sense of security in the small college town and frayed the nerves of students and residents as the search for a suspect ensued.
Kohberger has yet to enter a plea and is being held without bail in the Latah County Jail in Idaho following his December arrest at his parents’ Pennsylvania home. A court order prohibits all parties from commenting beyond referencing the public records of the case.
The-CNN-Wire
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CNN’s Lauren del Valle and Kristi Ramsay contributed to this report.
