The trial of Bryan Kohberger, accused of killing four University of Idaho students in a 2022 stabbing attack that drew national attention for its brutality and apparent randomness, will be shown on a livestream, the judge in charge said Thursday. District Judge Steven Hippler of Ada County, Idaho, laid out the daily schedule and other details of the trial, set to begin Aug. 11, during one of the final court hearings Thursday. He also scheduled another proceeding for June 18 to assess evidence of the defense's claim of an alternate suspect, a notion Kohberger's lawyers first broached last month. Kohberger, 30, was in attendance with them at the hearing, wearing civilian clothes instead of prison attire. Prosecutors have said they will seek the death penalty for the quadruple murders. Death by a firing squad is an option in Idaho, although the state hasn't carried out an execution since 2012. Hippler said the jury will consider the penalty – life in prison without the possibility of parole or the capital punishment – right after the verdict if the defendant is found guilty. Police say that early in the morning of Nov. 13, 2022, the four college students were stabbed to death at an off-campus house on King Road in Moscow, Idaho, where three of them lived. The victims were identified as Madison Mogen, 21; Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and her boyfriend Ethan Chapin, 20, who was spending the night. The coroner's report said the victims were probably asleep when they were killed, but some had defensive wounds. The killingsstunned and frightenedthe college town of 26,000, where a murder had not been recorded in five years. Fear prevailed for over a month as police failed to find a suspect or a motive. After a manhunt of more than six weeks, Kohberger was arrested Dec. 30, 2022, while visiting his family in Monroe County, Pennsylvania. At the time he was a doctorate student in criminology at Washington State University in Pullman, less than 10 miles west of Moscow. The motive remains unknown. There's no indication Kohberger knew any of the victims, and the autopsies did not reveal signs of sexual assault. In the absence of an official explanation, theories have filled the void in a case that has spurred true crime podcasts and plenty of speculation, including the suggestion Kohberger was trying to impress an old professor by getting away with murder. A May 9 report from a reputable outlet,NBC News, said Kohberger had met friends of the victims soon after moving to Pullman, conducted several online searches about serial killer Ted Bundy and had numerous photos of female students from Idaho and Washington State on his cell phone. The report also says law enforcement has phone records showing Kohberger made internet searches for "sociopathic traits in college student" and pornography with the words "drugged" and "sleeping." What all that means probably won't be known until the trial, if at all. Not entirely. Kohberger's lawyers filed "offer of proof'' of a possible other perpetrator before Thursday's proceeding, and Hippler gave then until March 23 to submit any further evidence. He's expected to rule on that June 18. The murder weapon has not been found, so the key piece of evidence for prosecutors is DNA they saymatches Kohberger'sthat was found on a knife sheath at the scene of the stabbings. Law enforcement traced the DNA to Kohberger through investigative genetic genealogy, a process that uses information from a public database where people can upload their own DNA profiles generated by services like Ancestry.com and 23andMe. The DNA was connected to a sample collected at Kohberger's family home in Pennsylvania. The defense filed a motion to suppress that evidence, but Hippler ruled in January that the DNA and records from Kohberger's cell phone and online accountscould be presented at the trial. Investigators say they linked surveillance video to Kohberger's car, a white Hyundai Elantra seen speeding away at 4:20 a.m. from the area around the house where the bodies were found. Police estimated the homicides took place between 4 and 4:25 a.m. More recently, the defense said Kohberger has been diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and should not be eligible for the death penalty, but Hippler also turned down that request. The defense did get a change of venue, from Latah County – where Moscow is located – to Ada County, home to the state capital of Boise. Contributing: Jeanine Santucci This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:Bryan Kohberger trial in killing of Idaho students will be livestreamed
