Why was Idaho suspect Bryan Kohberger charged with burglary along with murders? Here's what the law says
This article is based on sources and MEAWW cannot verify this information independently
MOSCOW, IDAHO: Bryan Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder in connection with the November 13 quadruple murders at the University of Idaho. He is also charged with a count of felony burglary, which has confused netizens who have since speculated on the reason behind the charge. Here is a break-down of what constitutes the offense, according to law.
According to CriminalDefenceLawyer.com, “Burglary can be defined as going into someone else's home without permission is a crime. A home invasion is a type of burglary or, sometimes, a trespass. Although laws and details vary from state to state, in general, it involves breaking into someone else's residence in order to commit a crime inside.”
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Kohberger, 28, is accused of breaking into the Moscow off-campus rental home early on November 13 with the intention to kill someone, according to the prosecutors. Police received a 911 call regarding an incapacitated person, and when they arrived, they discovered the four students—Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin—stabbed to death inside the home.
What does the law say?
Latah County Prosecutor Bill Thompson stated during a press conference after Kohberger's arrest that the burglary charge pertains to "entering the residence with the intent to commit the crime of murder." The relevant Idaho statute (Idaho Code 18-1401) states that "every person who enters any house, room, apartment, tenement, store, shop, warehouse, mill, barn, stable, outhouse, or a building, tent, vessel, vehicle, trailer, airplane, or railroad car with the intent to commit any theft or any felony is guilty of burglary.”
Meanwhile, an affidavit that was unsealed on Thursday, January 5 states authorities have assembled DNA evidence, cellphone data, and security video against Kohberger. According to the affidavit, DNA matching his was discovered on a knife sheath retrieved at the crime site. The affidavit also claims that Kohberger's cellphone was in the area of the victims' home a dozen times before the killings, and that cell tower data placed it there immediately after the attack - even though it appeared to have been switched off around the time of the early-morning assault.
Following his arrest on December 30 at his parents' Pennsylvania home, Kohberger, a PhD candidate and teaching assistant in the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at Washington State University, was transported back to Idaho on Thursday and made his initial court appearance there. Authorities claimed that the arrest was made after a seven-week investigation where Moscow PD reportedly conducted over 300 interviews and received over 20,000 tips.
