TWO brand new witnesses have been named in the murder trial of the man accused of killing four University of Idaho students in 2022.
A former prison guard and a possible classmate of Bryan Kohberger have been summoned to give evidence in the much-anticipated murder trial, which is drawing closer rapidly.
Kohberger, 30, will go to trial in August for the fatal stabbings of Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle, and Ethan Chapin in an off-campus home in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022.
This week, new court documents filed in Pennsylvania summoned witnesses William Searfoss and Anthony Somma to take the stand in the upcoming trial.
However, mystery swirls as it’s unclear what the two men will be questioned about — and it’s unclear if they’re testifying for prosecutors or for the defense.
Searfoss works as a correction officer at the Monroe County Correctional Facility, where Kohberger was held for five days after he was arrested at his parents’ Pennsylvania home in December 2022.
It’s unclear if Searfoss and Kohberger had any interactions while the suspect was housed there before being extradited back to Idaho.
Meanwhile, Somma appears to have graduated from a school that Kohberger was kicked out of, according to his Facebook profile.
Kohberger briefly attended a youth law enforcement program at Monroe Career & Technical Institute.
He was reportedly removed from the program after his female classmates complained about him, according to a former school official.
Tanya Carmella-Beers, MCTI’s former school administrator, told the Idaho Massacre podcast in 2023 that Kohberger “wanted law enforcement more than anything else in the world.”
Carmella-Beers didn’t reveal any more details about the complaints that got Kohberger kicked out of the school.
Five other witnesses from Pennsylvania who knew Kohberger in some capacity were called for the trial earlier this month.
His former boxing coach, a school adviser, and a professor were included in the witnesses who were identified.
All seven of the Pennsylvanians who were summoned are due in court next week to determine whether or not they need to travel to Idaho to testify in the trial, according to court documents.
The witnesses are expected in the pre-trial hearing on June 30.
University of Idaho murders timeline
On November 13, 2022, a brutal home invasion claimed the lives of four University of Idaho students.
Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20, were stabbed to death in their Moscow, Idaho, off-campus home.
A six-week manhunt ensued as cops searched for a suspect.
On December 30, 2022, Bryan Kohberger, 30, was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania – 2,500 miles away from the crime scene.
He was taken into custody and has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder.
Kohberger, a former criminal justice student at Washington State University, has been linked to the crime scene through phone records, his car’s location, and DNA evidence found at the home where the murders took place.
The house was demolished in December 2023 despite backlash from the victims’ families.
Kohberger is being held at Latah County Jail while he awaits trial.
On September 9, 2024, an Idaho judge ruled to move the upcoming murder trial out of Moscow after Kohberger’s lawyer argued that the town was prejudiced against him.
The state Supreme Court will decide the new venue and judge for the trial, which is expected to start in August 2025.
With just weeks to go until the trial begins on August 11, another surprise witness in the upcoming trial was revealed in shocking bodycam footage that resurfaced online.
In September 2024, a YouTuber shared a video taken by the Pullman Police Department on their channel, which features police bodycam clips obtained through public information requests.
‘I’M THE DOORDASH DRIVER’
The video shows a woman speaking to cops after being arrested for driving while intoxicated, as officers accused her of being on drugs.
“Now I have to testify in the big murder case, too,” the woman confessed to cops as she spoke about stressors in her life.
The woman then claimed to be the food delivery driver who brought a Jack in the Box meal to Xana Kernodle about 10 minutes before she was murdered.
“I’m the DoorDash driver,” she said in the wild footage, first reported by the Idaho Statesman.
“I saw Bryan […] I parked right next to him.”
The DoorDash driver is named as a witness in court documents and only identified as “MM.”
It’s unclear if MM will be called to testify now that the viral video has surfaced online.
His defense attorneys wrote in filings that they plan to prove he had no connection to any of the alleged victims or witnesses, including the driver.
Kohberger has pleaded not guilty to all charges. He faces the death penalty if he’s convicted of the murders.
