Marshall set the preliminary hearing for five days starting June 26. A preliminary hearing is typically the first time evidence gathered by prosecutors is presented in court, and gives the judge an opportunity to decide whether there’s enough evidence to proceed to a trial.
In a routine filing, appointed public defender Anne Taylor also asked the judge to order prosecutors to turn over their evidence, which could include photo lineups, DNA tests, surveillance or any expert witnesses they plan to call during a trial.
The hearing came a day after students at the University of Idaho returned to class for the spring semester amid a campus that’s relieved of an arrest but also still concerned for their safety . Kohberger, 28, was a doctoral student at Washington State University in Pullman, about 10 miles away from Moscow.
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Authorities say they used DNA samples and surveillance footage, cell phone tracking software, and tearing through Kohberger’s trash at his family’s home in Pennsylvania to identify him as the suspect, according to court documents released last week.
Investigators gained crucial information after police obtained a search warrant for Kohberger’s phone records on Dec. 23. They discovered the phone had been tracked near the students’ house at least 12 times in the six months before the attack, an affidavit said.
On Dec. 27, Pennsylvania police recovered trash from Kohberger’s family’s residence, and an Idaho state lab linked the DNA from the trash sample to the knife sheath found at the murder scene.
Marshall has previously issued a no-contact order for Kohberger with the two surviving roommates and the victims’ families.
Key revelations in Idaho student murders: DNA on knife sheath links suspect to mysterious Idaho student killings, roommate saw masked man, police say in new arrest documents
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