‘Game changer’ audio found in Bryan Kohberger case as judge ‘shocked’ by jury survey taken ‘behind his back’

PROSECUTORS have claimed they have revealing recordings of the accused Idaho murderer in the latest court hearing.

During Thursday’s court hearing, Prosecutor Bill Thompson said that his team received key audio relating to main suspect Bryan Kohberger’s Idaho murder case.

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Kohberger is currently facing four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in connection with the fatal stabbings of four University of Idaho students.

In November 2022, the bodies of Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20 were found in their off-campus apartment.

The gruesome murder struck fear through the town and led to a huge search for the potential killer.

Kohberger, who was a graduate student at Washington State University, was arrested and charged the following month in the deaths of the four college students.

The alleged killer has maintained his innocence in the case and has pleaded not guilty to all of the charges.

If convicted, he could face the death penalty.

During the latest court hearing, Thompson spoke out against the surveys conducted by Kohberger’s defense team to find potential jurors.

The prosecutor claimed to have received “game changer” recordings about what was asked during the survey, according to The Lewiston Tribune.

He claimed he heard questions that violated gag orders and “injected” potential jurors with key information.

“This survey cannot stand,” Thompson added.

Kohberger’s attorney, Anne Taylor, also had an issue with the survey, previously claiming that the jurors in Latah County are “biased.”

“Mr. Kohberger’s life and liberty are at stake. This is a capital case and he is entitled to be heard on motions pending before this Court,” Taylor wrote earlier this week in the filing.

“Halting preparations for his Motion for Change of Venue denies his constitutional right to a fair trial. The survey work is complete for Latah County and it shows that the jury pool in Latah County is biased.

“The State’s action that resulted in the cessation of the surveys prevents other county comparisons.”

Judge John Judge responded to the information brought on by Taylor on Thursday and admitted it “was a total shock” to him.

“Because this is a big deal, and I take it very, very seriously. And I was surprised, OK, that this was happening behind our backs—my back,” he said.

Last month, Judge barred both sides of the case from speaking with potential jurors in the ongoing case.

Taylor was said to have “vigorously” defended her client while conducting surveys, according to Michael McAuliffe, a former federal prosecutor, while speaking to Newsweek.

“However, the defense counsel’s argument that the community survey shows bias with prospective jurors misses the mark. The jury selection process is designed to vet and address juror bias issues and to select a fair, open-minded jury,” he said.

FINDING A FAIR JURY

A filing made public in February revealed that Kohberger’s lawyers were attempting to have the trial moved outside of Moscow.

The attorneys argued that the “extensive, inflammatory pretrial publicity” made it impossible to find a fair jury

The “small size of the community, the salacious nature of the alleged crimes, and the severity of the charges” all contribute to a collective bias, his attorneys argued.

Kohberger’s lawyers felt the trial needed to be in a different town to get a larger jury pool, that was not subjected to news cycle.

However, prosecutors argued against it due to the case already receiving “national, if not international attention.”

“It’s not Moscow. It’s not Latah County. It’s everywhere,” Thompson said in a pre-trial hearing, ABC News reported.

“So, I don’t think that a change of venue is going to solve any of these problems.

“I have people, friends in this community who have traveled to Mexico, and they say, ‘You’re from Moscow?’ And immediately, they want to talk about this case.”

He continued by stating that local jurors are perfectly capable of analyzing facts and making decisions.

“We at least owe Latah County, the people of Latah County, the attempt to seat a jury here first,” Thompson said Friday.

“And not just rely on, ‘There’s been a lot of publicity.’ There’s been a lot of publicity everywhere.”

‘I MISS YOU’

Kristi Goncalves took to Facebook to share a rare video of her deceased daughter, Kaylee.

The clip, captioned “I miss you so much Kaylee Jade!!!!”, shows the student playing with a puppy.

“Ow! Oh my goodness, you’re crazy, you’re crazy, yes you are,” she giggles.

The mother has been outspoken about her issues with the trial’s pacing.

“It’s gut-wrenching how slow everything has to go,” Kristi previously told Spokane NBC affiliate KHQ.

“Why does this have to be so drawn out? It’s important, I get it, but there are facts, we have certain facts, we have certain knowledge.

“I can’t believe that this is how it works.”

Despite the murders happening in 2022, an official trial date has not been set as of yet.

However, Kohberger’s lawyers claimed the trial could start as late as 2025.

Kevin McMunigal, a former federal prosecutor and law professor at Case Western University, told The U.S. Sun that the prosecution is motivated to keep the trial short.

“The longer the trial takes, the easier it is for the jury to get confused by things. So I would suspect the prosecutors will move along relatively quickly,” he said.