Parents of Idaho student murder suspect subpoenaed to testify before Pennsylvania grand jury
The parents of Bryan Kohberger have been subpoenaed to testify before a Monroe County, Pennsylvania, investigative grand jury, according to a source familiar with the situation.
Kohberger’s father is expected to testify before the impaneled grand jury in a sealed proceeding in Pennsylvania Thursday, according to the source.
His mother previously testified before the secretive panel, the source said.
The parents of the man indicted for the killings of four University of Idaho students were subpoenaed in the Pennsylvania jurisdiction where they live and where Bryan Kohberger was arrested last December.
Their compelled testimony under oath may be shared with prosecutors in Idaho, according to the source. Pennsylvania law allows judges to release transcripts of witness testimony before grand juries to other investigative agencies after a court hearing.
The court is investigating if Idaho murder suspect Bryan Kohberger might be connected to Dana Smithers because she disappeared 30 miles from his parents’ home. Smithers, 45, was last seen on May 28, 2022 on Ring footage
An attorney representing Kohberger’s parents tried unsuccessfully to have the subpoenas quashed, the source said.
The attorney retained by Michael and Maryann Kohberger declined to comment to CNN about the grand jury proceedings.
The Latah County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment to CNN citing the gag order in effect in the Kohberger case.
By law, a Monroe County grand jury can only review potential crimes that occurred within Monroe County, Pennsylvania. It is unclear what potential crime they are investigating.
Police descended on Kohberger’s family home at the Indian Mountain Lake Estates in Chestnuthill Township of Albrightsville just before 1:30 a.m. on December 30
Grand jury proceedings are secretive by nature and documents related to the proceedings are sealed.
Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home, almost seven weeks after Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were found dead November 13 in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho.
He drove from Pullman, Washington, where he was studying criminal justice to Pennsylvania for the holidays with his father and stayed at the family home from mid-December until his arrest in the early hours of December 30, CNN has previously reported.
Maddie Mogen (top) Kaylee Goncalves (left) Xana Kernodle (right) and Ethan Chapin (center) – all students at the University of Idaho – were knifed to death on November 13 in the quiet college town of Moscow
After his arrest law enforcement searched the home and Kohberger’s white Hyundai Elantra, which authorities had been looking for in connection with the killings.
Kohberger was extradited to Idaho to face the murder charges in January.