Bryan Kohberger Bought Balaclava Before Idaho Murders, Says Prosecutor — Similar to Mask in Eyewitness Sketch

Bryan Kohberger purchased a balaclava just months before police identified him as the masked suspect allegedly responsible for murdering four college students, the prosecution claims in a new filing — with receipts.

Latah County District Attorney Bill Thompson filed a motion stating that he plans to introduce the receipt from that sale as evidence during the criminal trial in the case, which is set to begin in August.

Thompson then explains in the filing, obtained by PEOPLE, why this is such a crucial piece of evidence in the case.

“The relevance of this information is that Bryan Kohberger purchased a black balaclava from Dick’s Sporting Goods on January 10, 2022,” reads the motion. “This mask is the same type of mask described by [the surviving roommate] that she witnessed worn by a male in the residence on November 13, 2022.”

At the same time, the defense filed a reply objecting to any mention of the balaclava, including the eyewitness’ sketch, at trial due to the manner in which police allegedly obtained that information.

Kohberger’s public defender Anne Taylor argues in her reply that the surviving eyewitness did not mention bushy eyebrows or a balaclava until she heard mention of these things from an authority in the case.

Taylor also objects to the prosecution’s attempt to use a selfie of Kohberger to show how bushy his eyebrows were the day after the murders, arguing that this would create unfair bias because the witness did not recognize Kohberger at the time of his arrest, according to the motion.

That eyewitness’ accounts of the suspect are also the focus of another defense objection as by her own account the eyewitness was “very drunk” and “tired” when she saw the suspect leave her Moscow, Idaho home in the early morning hours of Nov. 13.

Kohberger is accused of murdering Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. The four were found stabbed to death inside the home that Mogen, Goncalves and Kernodle shared with two other individuals.

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The eyewitness, one of the other roommates, came within approximately three feet of the suspected killer as they exited the home, according to the probable cause affidavit.

That eyewitness spoke with detectives on numerous occasions, and, as Thompson noted in a filing earlier this month, said that the person she saw inside the house had “bushy eyebrows” in almost every interview.

Kohberger’s murder trial is set to begin on Aug. 11 in Ada County, Idaho. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death.

Kohberger told the public defender who represented him after his arrest in Pennsylvania that he expects to be exonerated at trial. He declined to enter a plea in court when the judge formally charged him with four counts of murder, at which time a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf.