Bryan Kohberger’s sister was potential prosecution witness in Idaho case

New court filings reveal that Bryan Kohberger accepted the plea deal just days after prosecutors added his sister, Amanda Kohberger, to the witness list, and the case ended abruptly before going to trial.

Newly unsealed court documents show Amanda Kohberger was on the state’s amended witness list and was also listed on the defense’s mitigating witness list by lead attorney Anne Taylor.

The overlapping filings show that in the weeks before Kohberger’s plea, Amanda was positioned as a potential witness for both sides. A few days after the June 25 filing, which listed his sister as a prosecution witness, he accepted a plea deal that prevented the case from going to trial.

IDAHO MURDER DOCUMENTS REVEAL VICTIM’S CONSTANT FEARS AND KOHBERGER’S ‘APPROPRIATE BEHAVIOR’ AT SCHOOL

The references highlight the contrasting strategies at play. Prosecutors’ witness list dated June 25 includes 180 names, from investigators and forensic experts to relatives of the victims, and includes Kohberger’s sister, Amanda.

According to ABC News report Citing copies of 2014 police records, Bryan’s father, Michael Kohberger, told cops that his son stole his sister Melissa’s iPhone. Police declined to comment but confirmed the case had been expunged and the recording “no longer exists”.

In contrast, the mitigation list submitted by the defense on June 6 included the names of 56 witnesses assigned during the sentencing phase; these included psychologists, enforcement experts and nearly every member of Kohberger’s immediate family.

Bryan Kohberger appears at the Ada County Courthouse for his sentencing hearing on July 23, 2025, in Boise, Idaho. Kohberger pleaded guilty in exchange for avoiding the death penalty for stabbing four University of Idaho students. (Kyle Green-Pool/Getty Images)

EXPERT EXPLAINED THAT BRYAN KOHBERGER CALLED HIS MOTHER WHEN HE RETURNED TO THE IDEAHO MURDER SCELE THE NEXT DAY

The case has attracted national attention since the early hours of the morning. 13 November 2022When four students – Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Kaylee Goncalves – were found stabbed to death in an off-campus rental house in Moscow, Idaho.

Kohberger, a former Ph.D. student in criminology at nearby Washington State University, was arrested in December 2022. international investigation

Exterior view of the Idaho State Prison Complex in Kuna, Idaho, Tuesday, July 22, 2025. Bryan Kohberger is being housed at this facility after being convicted of murdering four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)

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The 30-year-old man pleaded guilty to four counts of first-degree murder and one count of aggravated burglary.

Fox News Digital’s Michael Ruiz contributed to this report.