Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022, can still face the death penalty if convicted, despite a recent autism diagnosis, a judge has ruled.
In documents unsealed last month, it was revealed that Kohberger’s attorneys had filed a request to remove the death penalty as an option during potential sentencing, saying it would constitute cruel and unusual punishment. They claimed that Kohberger’s autism spectrum disorder (ASD) “reduces his culpability, negates the retributive and deterrent purposes of capital punishment, and exposes him to the unacceptable risk that he will be wrongfully convicted and sentenced to death.”
Prosecutors, who’d previously signaled their intention to seek the death penalty if Kohberger was found guilty, rebuffed the request. They argued, per The Associated Press, that Supreme Court precedent stated that only intellectual disabilities can preclude the death penalty. And Kohberger was diagnosed with mild autism “without accompanying intellectual … impairment,” they said.
In a ruling issued Thursday, April 24, Judge Steven Hippler agreed with the prosecution, saying that Kohberger and his attorneys “failed to show” that his autism diagnosis is “equivalent to an intellectual disability for death penalty exemption purposes.” Hippler also said they had “not shown there is national consensus against subjecting individuals with ASD to capital punishment.”
Hippler did say that Kohberger’s ASD “may be a mitigating factor” to be considered if Kohberger does receive the death penalty. But that did not make it “a death-penalty disqualifier.”
Kohberger was arrested in December 2022 as the sole suspect in the stabbing deaths of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Kohberger was linked to the crime through DNA found on a knife sheath, and he was ultimately indicted on murder charges in May 2023.
A judge entered a not guilty plea on Kohberger’s behalf after he chose to “stand silent” rather than enter a plea. His trial is set to begin in August.
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