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Yahoo
3 days ago
- Yahoo
Surprise witness in Idaho student murders says she 'saw Bryan there' on deadly night
A surprise second eyewitness has emerged in the Idaho student murders case and could testify against Bryan Kohberger at trial later this year. A woman claiming to be the Idaho DoorDash driver who dropped off food to victim Xana Kernodle minutes before a home invasion stabbing spree killed her, her boyfriend, and two roommates, has emerged as an unexpected eyewitness to testify at Kohberger's upcoming murder trial, and she told police she saw him at the scene. The purported driver revealed herself in a police bodycam video from an alleged DUI stop taken in September 2024 and posted weeks later to the YouTube account, Officer Axon, which publishes law enforcement videos obtained through public records requests. Key Figures Brom Bryan Kohberger's Pennsylvania Youth Summoned To Idaho For Student Murders Trial Web sleuths picked up on it, and her connection to the Kohberger case was reported in the Idaho Statesman Tuesday. "I have to testify in a big murder case here... because I'm the DoorDash driver, so yeah," she says in the video. Read On The Fox News App An officer asks which case. "The murder case with the college girls," she says. "I'm the DoorDash driver. I saw Bryan there. I parked right next to him." She is not named in redacted court documents and may suffer from credibility issues after police in Pullman, Washington, accused her of driving while high on drugs. Bryan Kohberger Defense Suggests 'Alternate Perpetrators' In Idaho Murders, Joining Infamous Legal Strategy DoorDash is among dozens of companies that police sought information from during their investigation, Fox News Digital has previously reported. Kernodle received a delivery less than 10 minutes before the attack, which happened just after 4 a.m. on Nov. 13, 2022. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES AT THE FOX NEWS True Crime Hub A surviving roommate, who is identified only by her initials in court documents, told police early on in the investigation that she came face to face with a masked man with bushy eyebrows before he left the house without attacking her. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X The attack also killed Ethan Chapin, who was Kernodle's 20-year-old boyfriend, and two 21-year-old roommates, Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves. All four were University of Idaho students, and all four suffered multiple stab wounds from a large knife, according to authorities. Police found a Ka-Bar sheath under Mogen's body that prosecutors allege has Kohberger's DNA on it. Police allege they linked a suspect vehicle and Kohberger's phone pings to the scene as well. The 30-year-old suspect, who is from Pennsylvania, was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at Washington State University, just a 10-mile drive from the crime scene. Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter A judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger's behalf at his arraignment in May 2023. He faces four counts of first-degree murder and one of felony burglary. He could face the death penalty if article source: Surprise witness in Idaho student murders says she 'saw Bryan there' on deadly night
Yahoo
13-06-2025
- Yahoo
Special prosecutor delivers crushing final blow in Karen Read trial: 'She left him to die'
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan wrapped up his closing argument in the murder trial of Karen Read Friday afternoon, telling jurors there is no doubt that she's the one who killed John O'Keefe, her 46-year-old boyfriend, a Boston cop and the adoptive father of his orphaned niece and nephew. Read, 45, is accused of slamming her 2021 Lexus SUV into her 46-year-old former boyfriend and leaving him to die on the ground in a blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022. "She was drunk. She hit him. And she left him to die," Brennan said. "It's that simple." Karen Read Trial Nears Its Finale: What Each Side Is Banking On Multiple witnesses testified that they heard her repeating the phrase, "I hit him. I hit him. I hit him," Brennan said. But it was the hard data -- not accident reconstruction or witness accounts, that proves his case, he said. O'Keefe's phone did not move from between the time Read slammed her 6,000-pound LX 570 in reverse until he was discovered dead on the lawn 5 and a half hours later. Read On The Fox News App Although Read didn't testify in her own defense, Brennan used her own words against her in the form of multiple televised interviews she sat for. He alleged that they illustrate that she knowingly left O'Keefe to die after hitting him and where to find the body when she went looking the next morning. In one, she described O'Keefe as a "weird-shaped lump" and a "buffalo on the prairie," jutting out of the snow. "John O'Keefe is not a body. John O'Keefe is not a buffalo on a prairie," Brennan said. "He was a person, and he was murdered by Karen Read." Karen Read Announces She Will Not Testify In Her Defense As Massachusetts Trial Nears Conclusion Read's lead defense lawyer Alan Jackson urged jurors to find her not guilty Friday in a closing argument that disputed the prosecution's entire timeline from the night O'Keefe died. "There was no collision," Jackson told jurors. "There was no collision. There was no collision." He argued that a sloppy investigation, a lack of physical evidence and witness testimony left a mountain of reasonable doubt in the case. He said the commonwealth's case is "cooked" after an expert analysis of O'Keefe's injuries and called the prosecution's crash reconstruction a "ridiculous blue paint kindergarten project." The lead homicide detective got fired from the Massachusetts State Police and did not testify at trial. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X WATCH: Karen Read's father addresses media as she prepares for closing arguments Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Special prosecutor Hank Brennan is up next. The case is expected to go to jurors later this afternoon after more than 30 days of testimony. Although Judge Beverly Cannone asked for an earlier start than normal, court kicked off with a sidebar conference that lasted over a half-hour. GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub Read's defense and Brennan are expected to turn up the heat as they hope to convince jurors of their diametrically opposed claims about what happened to O'Keefe. According to the defense, her vehicle never hit him. Read faces 15 years to life in prison if convicted on the top charge of second-degree murder. If convicted of drunken driving manslaughter, she would face 5 to article source: Special prosecutor delivers crushing final blow in Karen Read trial: 'She left him to die'
Yahoo
10-06-2025
- Yahoo
How Bryan Kohberger's notoriously mum defense attorney is using the media to her advantage
Bryan Kohberger's lead defense attorney Anne Taylor may be avoiding news cameras, but she has shown she is able to use widespread attention to the case to her advantage in her courtroom maneuvering. Even before Magistrate Judge Megan Marshall issued the first gag order in the case, Taylor declined to comment when contacted by Fox News Digital. Since then, she has declined to respond to additional requests for comment. "It is unusual for defense counsel to avoid trying to grab the spotlight and possibly influence public opinion via press conferences, but there's more than one way to skin a cat," said Royal Oakes, a Los Angeles-based litigator and media analyst. Bryan Kohberger Case Leak Could Lead To Excluded Evidence, Idaho Attorney Warns In Kohberger's case, convincing evidence has already been made public — including the allegation that police found his DNA on a Ka-Bar knife sheath under 21-year-old Madison Mogen, one of the four victims, and surveillance video of a suspected vehicle coming and going at the crime scene. "You've got the car circling the victim's house," Oakes told Fox News Digital. "You've got the DNA. You've got the cell phone records. The strategy instead is to go kind of a technical route and question the science of the DNA and also to argue autism by the criminal defendant. That's a key factor, and that's not the kind of thing you necessarily go public with." Read On The Fox News App Taylor used unflattering depictions of her client to have news cameras thrown out of the courtroom and to secure a change of venue, which moved Kohberger's upcoming trial out of Latah County, where the students were killed, to Boise. Idaho Judge Denies Bryan Kohberger Defense Motion To Suppress Key Evidence Defense filings have highlighted widespread news coverage, as well as social media discussions involving thousands of web sleuths and true crime followers. More recently, Taylor is arguing that two major media projects — a "Dateline" episode and a forthcoming book from bestselling crime author James Patterson and crime reporter Vicky Ward — should justify another postponement of her client's trial in the deaths of four University of Idaho students. In particular, she claims the May 9 "Dateline" episode contains damning material that could put Kohberger's right to a fair trial at risk. Judge Says Gag Order 'Likely' Violated In Bryan Kohberger's Idaho Murder Case "The program includes details and materials, including video footage, cellphone records, and photographs of documents, that are not publicly available through official channels," she wrote in a motion to continue filed on May 20. "The show repeatedly emphasizes the non-public nature of this information, stating it was obtained from unnamed sources who are close to the investigation, and that the materials were obtained exclusively by 'Dateline.'" Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Some of it will be inadmissible at trial, she added. Furthermore, she asserted that "the leaked materials appear carefully curated to promote a narrative of guilt." "The defense strategy of delay and moving the trial is working beautifully," Oakes said. "She was able to change the venue. She gets some postponements, and now she wants further postponement." If she gets it, there are two key factors that would benefit the defense, he added. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X "No. 1, give her time to come up with something to overcome this amazingly strong physical evidence against him, and also maybe diminish the public anger," he said. "As the months and the years go by, people will forget how horrific the crime was, and maybe give her a better chance to get a good result at trial." "They are trying to keep it out of the court of public opinion," said David Gelman, a Philadelphia-area defense attorney and former prosecutor who is following the case. "How do you do that? Stay away from media." GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub However, that is tough in a case where many updates receive international attention. Kohberger is accused of killing Mogen, two roommates and another friend in a 4 a.m. home-invasion stabbing spree. There is no publicly known motive, but a concerning detail is that he was studying for a Ph.D. in criminology at the time of the murders. The other victims were Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20. Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts judge and an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts Lowell School of Criminology and Justice studies, said Taylor could consider trying to "humanize" her client — but anything else could be dangerous for the defense. "That case sends a chill down the spine of every professor in a school of criminology in the United States," he told Fox News article source: How Bryan Kohberger's notoriously mum defense attorney is using the media to her advantage
Yahoo
09-06-2025
- Yahoo
Defense in Karen Read case accuses special prosecutor of misleading jury about damaged hoodie evidence
Karen Read defense attorney Robert Alessi moved for a mistrial again Monday over special prosecutor Hank Brennan's handling of John O'Keefe's hoodie during cross-examination of a defense expert witness. "Your honor, the defense moves for a mistrial with prejudice Based upon intentional misconduct that just occurred before the court and before the jury," Alessi said. He said the motion came in response to representations Brennan made while questioning Dr. Daniel Wolfe, a crash reconstructionist from a firm called ARCCA. Brennan, while cross-examining Wolfe about damage to O'Keefe's hoodie, showed him the actual piece of clothing, which had a series of holes in the back. Jury Skepticism Of Experts Could Determine Outcome In Karen Read Murder Trial: Former Judge Alessi contended that the holes were created by a criminologist during lab testing and that they did not exist when police took the sweatshirt. Read On The Fox News App Read is accused of killing her boyfriend O'Keefe, a Boston police officer, by clipping him with her 2021 Lexus LX 570 SUV on Jan. 29, 2022, and leaving him to die on the ground in a record-setting blizzard. Before jurors arrived, Judge Beverly Cannone heard motions regarding rebuttal testimony and to preclude or limit expert witnesses. WATCH: Karen Read defense moves for a mistrial again She said she would hold an additional evidentiary hearing to determine what Dr. Elizabeth Laposata, a Rhode Island forensic pathologist and professor at Brown University, can testify in front of jurors. David Yannetti, one of Read's defense lawyers, told the court that her legal team believes O'Keefe was "placed" on the ground near a flagpole outside 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts. Laposata is expected to discuss O'Keefe's injuries and how and where he could have suffered them. The home is about 20 miles south of Boston. Read, O'Keefe and others went there for an after-party on Jan. 28, 2022. Dr. Daniel Wolfe, the reconstructionist from a firm called ARCCA, testified last week that damage to Read's SUV is inconsistent with the type of impact that prosecutors allege left O'Keefe dead early the following morning. 'Cannon' Test Boosts Karen Read's Defense, Showing Taillight Damage Consistent With Thrown Bar Glass GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub But on cross-examination, he conceded that flying fragments of a taillight could have been the source of injuries to O'Keefe's face and nose before he suffered a fractured skull from what prosecution experts testified was a backward fall. Read has pleaded not guilty to charges of second-degree murder, drunken driving manslaughter and leaving the scene. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter Her defense maintains that her vehicle never struck O'Keefe and that his injuries were caused in some other manner after she left. Read could face life in prison if convicted of the top charge. Jurors deadlocked at her first trial last year on the same article source: Defense in Karen Read case accuses special prosecutor of misleading jury about damaged hoodie evidence
Yahoo
07-06-2025
- Yahoo
Jury skepticism of experts could determine outcome in Karen Read murder trial: former judge
Whenever there's a battle of the experts, it's the jurors who hold the winning hand, according to a retired Massachusetts judge. And that's shaping up to be the case in Karen Read's retrial on murder charges in the death of her former boyfriend, 46-year-old Boston Police Officer John O'Keefe. Read, 45, is accused of hitting him with an SUV and leaving outside a house party at 34 Fairview Road in Canton, Massachusetts, as he died of a skull fracture and hypothermia during a blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022. Cross-examination Exposes Gaps In Defense Expert's Crash Testing For Karen Read Dr. Daniel Wolfe, a director at the ARCCA crash reconstruction firm, testified that the results of numerous tests he conducted to try and reconstruct the alleged crash that killed O'Keefe came back with "inconsistent" results. But special prosecutor Hank Brennan tore into the validity of his methods during cross-examination, noting he used a dummy that was significantly smaller than O'Keefe, alternated between different types of dummy arms without noting that under direct examination and conducted only one test at each speed rather than multiple tests to check for consistent results. Read On The Fox News App A key moment in his testimony came not while discussing his findings, but when Brennan asked him about something Read said in a video clip played earlier in the trial, according to Jack Lu, a retired Massachusetts Superior Court Judge and Boston College law professor. Karen Read Denis Noticing Confrontation Between Deceased Boyfriend And Atf Agent "There's Brennan's theory – the taillight 'impaled' [O'Keefe] on the nose," he told Fox News Digital. "Read picked glass out of [his] nose, and [his] nose bled – from her video statement." Brennan played video from one of Wolfe's accident reconstructions that showed plastic fragments flying away from the vehicle after impacting a crash dummy's arm. "When the taillight is shattered and it spreads through the air, does it have the potential to impale a person, for example, on their nose?" Brennan asked. "I think that would be unlikely," Wolfe replied. Follow The Fox True Crime Team On X As part of the prosecution's case, Brennan played a clip of Read telling an interviewer she pulled a "piece of glass" out of O'Keefe's nose and that it started bleeding. Wolfe's task has been to discredit the prosecution's core allegation that Read slammed into O'Keefe in reverse with her 2021 Lexus LX 570 SUV and left him to die on the ground in a blizzard on Jan. 29, 2022. Sign Up To Get The True Crime Newsletter "Juries have great powers of observation, and a fundamental depth of experience seldom seen in American life," Lu told Fox News Digital. "Partially because of how many jurors there are. I predict that the jury will conclude that both accident reconstructionists' conclusions are not worthy of belief in a jury trial." GET REAL-TIME UPDATES DIRECTLY ON THE True Crime Hub The defense is also aiming to sow reasonable doubt in the prosecution's crash experts, Dr. Judson Welcher and Shanon Burgess from a firm called Aperture. Welcher testified last week that he believes "[O'Keefe's injuries are] consistent with being struck by a Lexus and also contacting a hard surface, such as frozen ground." Wolfe found that the injuries were inconsistent when stacked up against the damage to Read's SUV as well as the damage to O'Keefe's clothing – which prosecutors allege had fragments of taillight plastic embedded in it. Lu said that he expects jury instructions to include a note that the experts don't decide the facts – jurors do. "Juries are not in the least bit cowed by experts," he said. "To the contrary, they view them with skepticism." Especially "hired guns," he added. Jurors will be looking at the case as a whole, but while Lu said he believes Brennan scored a victory on the day, the defense has a significant advantage. "The defense need not prove anything; they merely must establish reasonable doubt," said Mark Bederow, a New York City defense lawyer who is representing Canton blogger and Read ally Aidan Kearney. "But over the course of a few hours, Dr. Wolfe cast serious doubt by methodically dismantling the key premise of the prosecution case – through multiple scientific examinations and effective video he offered support for his opinion that the damage to the taillight was not consistent with the collision alleged by the prosecution." Read's team is expected to rest their case next week. She could face up to life in prison if convicted of the top article source: Jury skepticism of experts could determine outcome in Karen Read murder trial: former judge
