Judge Lifts Gag Order On Idaho Killer Bryan Kohberger Murder Case
On Thursday, an Idaho judge lifted a gag order in the Bryan Kohberger murder case. Kohberger avoided the death sentence when he pleaded guilty to the murders of four University of Idaho students at a rental home near the campus three years ago. Since a trial is no longer planned, the Associated Press and numerous news organizations have asked the court to lift the gag order in the Bryan Kohberger case.
Judge Lifts Gag Order on Bryan Kohberger Case
4th District Judge Steven Hippler saw that lifting the gag order would secure and protect the First Amendment rights of the public and press. Hippler said, “The primary purpose of the non-dissemination order, which is to ensure that we can seat an impartial jury, is no longer at play.”
He also added that he couldn’t continue the gag order because the public has the right to get information on the murder case. Hippler also said, “The media frenzy, as it’s been described, will continue regardless. Lifting the non-dissemination order does not require the counsel or others previously bound by it to speak.” The defense team of Bryan Kohberger argued against lifting the gag order. The gag order comes following Kohberger’s signed confession to the killings.
They argued that the move would lead to a more aggressive media frenzy and risk compromising the integrity of the sentencing process. Initially, a different judge in Moscow, Idaho, issued the gag order, arguing that more publicity could hurt Kohberger’s right to a fair trial. Hippler faced calls by the media to quickly unseal many sealed documents in the murder case. He said that the documents won’t be unsealed unit the sentencing is finished, and that he would thoroughly review the documents carefully.
For now, neither the defense team nor the prosecutors’ office has accepted interview requests. Kohberger confessed to his brutal murders of the four students, who had no connection or association with him. According to prosecutors, Bryan Kohberger carefully planned the attack for months, and his studies as a criminal justice grad student played a huge part in his covering his tracks for his heinous crime.
DNA evidence, cell phone records, and surveillance footage helped investigators link Kohberger to the murders. The stabbings sent shockwaves and concerns to residents of Moscow and the campus community. According to Steven Goncalves, father of one of the murdered victims, Kaylee Goncalves, claimed the people involved in the murder investigation informed him of his suspicions of Kohberger’s motives.
Final Thoughts
Goncalves said, “People were so angry at what was happening in that courtroom that they would literally pick up their phone and call us and say, ‘This is what’s on Bryan’s phone. This is what he was searching. This was sexually motivated.” He made this claim in an interview with NewsNation’s Banfield. The motive of Bryan Kohberger’s heinous crime remains a huge question mark in the murder case. A documentary series about the murders, titled One Night in Idaho: The College Murders, is available on Amazon Prime. In other news, Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic will have a huge role in Avengers: Doomsday and Avengers: Secret Wars. Stranger Things teased its teaser trailer for its fifth and final season.
