Madison Mogen fought back.
Idaho investigators discovered a three-person mixture of DNA under the 21-year-old University of Idaho undergraduate’s fingernails after she and three friends were killed in her off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022, according to court filings.
Bicka Barlow, a defense attorney specializing in challenging DNA evidence and recently added to suspect Bryan Kohberger’s defense team, is seeking to limit testimony about the fingernail scrapings at trial. She argues that the DNA does not match her client.
In a pair of redacted motions regarding the evidence, Barlow contended that the inconclusive test results could mislead the jury if emphasized. She also noted that independent testing conducted for the defense completely ruled Kohberger out as a contributor.
“Mr. Kohberger’s inconclusive [likelihood ratio] is similar to almost every other person for whom an LR was generated, and focusing on his ‘inconclusive’ LR would mislead the jury by implying that his DNA might be present in the sample,” she argued.
Barlow referenced heavily redacted testimony from Jade Miller, who discussed samples recovered from under a nail on Mogen’s left hand. Although the specifics of Miller’s testimony were not disclosed in the publicly available filing, Barlow claimed it was misleading and should be barred under state law.
The presence of unknown DNA could support the defense’s theory that other individuals left it behind—a point the defense has already raised regarding blood samples found on a handrail inside the home and on a glove outside.
“It could play in the defense’s favor that there was more than one person at the location to control that many people,” said Joseph Giacalone, a retired NYPD sergeant and cold case investigator.
Mogen, a marketing major from Coeur d’Alene, was killed alongside her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, in an upstairs room of a six-bedroom house just steps off campus. Police found a knife sheath under her body with DNA that led them to Kohberger as a suspect.
On the floor below, police discovered the remains of Xana Kernodle, 20, and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, also 20. All four students suffered multiple stab wounds.
Idaho’s crime lab tested two hypotheses: first, that the DNA samples included Mogen, Goncalves, and an unknown person; and second, that the DNA came from Mogen and two unknown individuals. Multiple people were tested as possible matches to the unknown DNA, but none yielded conclusive results.
Police allege that Kohberger visited the area of the home on multiple occasions, citing cellphone records and video footage of a white Hyundai Elantra, a vehicle matching the one he was pulled over in several times.
His trial is scheduled to begin on August 11, and he could face the death penalty if convicted.
Latah County Judge John Judge entered not guilty pleas on Kohberger’s behalf at his arraignment in May 2023. The case is now being overseen by Judge Steven Hippler in Boise.
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