16-05-2025
Idaho quadruple murder case in jeopardy as judge launches probe after leak to the media
trial has been thrown into disarray as the judge has revealed that sensitive details about the case have been leaked to the press, which could make it harder to find impartial jurors for the August trial.
Judge Steven Hippler has ordered a new investigation as he seeks to discover the source behind the leak.
The case has been plagued by setbacks as his defense team scrambled to have evidence thrown out, the death penalty ruled out and, most recently, point the finger at another potential suspect.
But now, Judge Hippler issued an extraordinary rebuke by revealing 'sensitive information not previously publicly circulated' had been leaked to Dateline.
'It appears likely that someone currently or formally associated with law enforcement, or the prosecution team, violated this Court's non-dissemination order,' he wrote in a new filing released Thursday.
Certain facts of the case have been withheld from the public to preserve the integrity of the investigation.
Kohberger is facing the death penalty if convicted of the murders of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin. Two other housemates, Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke, survived.
'Such violations not only undermine the rule of law, potentially by persons charged with upholding it, but also significantly impede the ability to seat an impartial jury,' the judge added, warning that the offenders' actions have likely 'substantially increased the cost to be borne by the taxpayers' because it will now likely take longer to find jurors.
Jury selection will take place behind closed doors on July 30 and Judge Hippler put every single official with a connection to the case on high alert over the new investigation.
He wrote in his memo: 'All persons who at any time, past or present, worked directly or indirectly [on this case]... are hereby prohibited from deleting, discarding, overwriting, destroying, altering or otherwise making unavailable any... records, files, documents, metadata, messages, emails, text messages, direct or private messages, phone logs or logs of communications.'
He went on to specify that this order must be adhered to regardless of whether the information was stored on a work owned or personal device: 'All such Documents or materials or records that could potentially constitute a Document - even if it is uncertain whether such meet that criteria shall be preserved and must be protected from deletion, alteration or loss until further order of the Court.
'Any feature on any device or account that is set to automatically delete or overwrite information that could be covered by this Order must immediately be disabled.'
Judge Hippler ordered authorities to hand over to the court a list of 'all individuals within law enforcement and prosecuting agencies, past or present, who are known to have had access to any facts related to the investigation'.
He is particularly interested in learning who had access to surveillance videos of Kohberger, AT&T records of his phone, the content of his phone and social media accounts.
The judge is also seeking the names of any person who was aware of Kohberger's internet search history, photographs, or details of his Amazon account. These specifications are in direct response to the exclusive details aired on a recent Dateline episode studying the case.
The program revealed the criminology PhD student called his dad Michael Kohberger three times on the morning of November 13, 2022, just two hours after the slayings.
According to Dateline, Kohberger made several searches around serial killer Ted Bundy - who was put to death for a string of murders including the killings of female students in a sorority house in Florida.
In the days after the murders, Kohberger also allegedly watched shows about the serial killer. He also searched and listened to the Britney Spears's song Criminal.
Other online searches after the murders show the suspect was researching the killings - as well as his own name, the show reported. Dateline also claimed that the intended target of the attack was believed to be Madison, and that it took the killer by surprise to find her best friend, Kernodle, sharing her bed.
Judge Hippler warned that if he does not receive the information he has requested, he could find the person responsible to be in contempt of court, and they could face criminal consequences.
'Within seven days the State must also provide to the Court a written plan designed to address and prevent the future unauthorized disclosure of information related to this case,' he wrote.
