Bethany Funke: Surviving roommate agrees to be interviewed by suspect Bryan Kohberger's defense team
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MOSCOW, IDAHO: Bethany Funke, one of the surviving roommates of the brutal Idaho quadruple murders has now agreed to an interview with the defense team of suspect Bryan Kohberger. A few days ago, the 21-year-old woman fought a subpoena that forced her to testify in defense of the suspect during the preliminary hearing in two months.
As per the court documents, Funke will be interviewed by the suspect's defense counsel in Reno, Nevada. It is also revealed that her interview with the defense team will be taking place "in lieu" of testifying during Kohberger's preliminary hearing scheduled in June, reported Daily Mail.
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Funke's testimony during Kohberger's preliminary hearing
According to the court documents dated Wednesday, April 26, “the basis for this stipulation is that BETHANY GRACE FUNKE, through her attorney, has agreed to an interview with Idaho defense counsel in Reno, Nevada, in lieu of proceeding forward with the subpoena for Preliminary Hearing now set June 26 through June 30, 2023."
Days after Funke fought the court's order demanding her to testify in Kohberger's defense, she has now agreed to sit with the team and testify. As per the court documents, she previously argued that since she is living in Reno, which is nearly 480 miles away from the place of Kohberger's murder trial in Idaho, she should not be given the order to testify, according to Radar Online.
Funke 'may be a material witness for the defendant'
Funke's fight against the order came after the Latah County magistrate judge ordered her to testify at Kohberger's preliminary hearing on June 26 as she "may be a material witness for the defendant in the case." However, her attorney, Kelli Anne Viloria responded to the order by fighting to "quash" the "foreign subpoena." In the filing, Viloria argued that "there is no authority for an Idaho criminal defendant to summon a Nevada witness to Idaho for a preliminary hearing."
"A preliminary hearing is not meant to become a mini-trial due to its limited purpose in deciding of probable cause," she added. Kohberger is currently under custody in connection to the horrifying quadruple homicide of four University of Idaho students in their off-campus residence in Moscow. He has been accused of murdering the students Ethan Chapin, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, on November 13, 2022.