Madison Morgen fought back.
Idaho investigators discovered a three-person mixture of DNA under the fingernails of a 21-year-old University of Idaho undergraduate alumni after she and three friends were killed in an off-campus rental home in Moscow, Idaho on November 13, 2022, according to court filings.
Bicka Barlow specializes in attacking DNA evidence and is a defense counsel recently added to doubt Bryan Kohberger's defense team, and wants to limit testimony of nail scraping in court.
She says they don't match her clients.
Idaho prosecutor wants to block Brian Coberger from claiming “alternative perpetrator” left blood in the scene
Senior photo of Madison Morgen from photographer Jesse Frost. (Photo by Jesse Frost)
In a pair of compiled moves on evidence, she argued that since testing of the samples has returned decisively, focusing on them could mislead the juju judge. She further argued that the independent tests conducted for defense had completely ruled out him as a contributor.
“What's definitive about Kohberger's [likelihood ratio] “LRs are similar to almost everyone else who produced them, and focusing on his “definitive” LR would mislead the juj in that LR means that Kohberger's DNA could be present in the sample,” she argued.
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Brian Coberger will arrive at Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania prior to the extradition hearing. He is charged with murder of four students at the University of Idaho. (Fox News Digital Image Direct)
Barlow cited heavily edited testimony from Jade Miller, who discussed the samples recovered from under the nails of Mogen's left hand. Although details of what Miller said were not included in the published submission, Barlow argued that her testimony was misleading and was prohibited by state law.
Judge Brian Coberger ends the filing of “wide range” secrets that limit what the public can see
Furthermore, the existence of unknown DNA could support defensive theory that unknown people left it there. This is an issue that has already raised defenses regarding blood samples found on the railings of the house and the gloves outside.
Geneticist and lawyer Vika Barlow will speak at the Brian Coberger hearing at the Rata County Courthouse in Moscow on Friday, August 18, 2023. She was then added to his defense team. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune)
“It was really good to have multiple people there in that place to control a lot of people,” said Joseph Jacaron, a retired NYPD Sergeant and Cold Case investigator.
Idaho judge deny Brian Coberger's motion to defend himself to curb key evidence
Mogen, a marketing major at Coeur D'Alene, was killed along with her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, 21, in a second-floor room in a six-bedroom house, just off campus. Police also discovered that the knife sheath had DNA under her body, which helped them reveal Coberger as a suspect.
Police downstairs found the bodies of 20-year-old Xana Kernodle and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin.
Madison Morgen on the top left smiled on the shoulder of her best friend Kaylee Goncalves, who posed alongside two other housemates in Ethan Chapin, Zana Carnordal and Goncalves' final Instagram post, sharing four students before being stabbed and killed. (@kayleegoncalves/instagram)
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The Idaho Crime Institute tested two hypotheses: First, the sample contains DNA from Mogen, Goncalves, and unknown people, and then the DNA comes from Mogen and two unknown people.
It appears that multiple people have been tested as a possible match with unknown people. None of the results were conclusive for anyone.
Police alleges that Kohberger has visited the area of the house multiple times, citing cell phone records and video of the suspicious vehicle.
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Photos of Madison Morgen and Kaylee Goncalves include two University of Idaho students dying in their off-campus home on November 13, 2022. (Instagram)
His trial is scheduled to begin on August 11th, and if convicted he could face the death penalty.
Rata County Judge John Judge entered into a plea for him in his arrest in May 2023.
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The case is currently being overseen by Judge Stephen Hippler of Boise.
