Cell Phone Expert Testifies Missing Data Benefits University of Idaho Murder Suspect Bryan Kohberger

“Because of the fragmentation of the data, the missing data, the data that I'm looking at that is incredibly inaccurate, anything that's missing absolutely benefits the defense right now,” Ray testified, adding, “There's There are other reports missing that I cannot say benefit Mr. Kohberger or the state.

He added that it's unclear why some data isn't available: “Is it human error? Is it accidental? Is it intentional?”

What he has seen so far, he said, seems to “exonerate” Kohberger.

Ray, a former Arizona police detective, said he was usually an expert witness for the prosecution in criminal cases. His expertise has already come under scrutiny.

Earlier during Thursday's hearing, a senior investigator with the Moscow Police Department said thousands of hours of surveillance video had been collected in connection with a Hyundai Elantra that prosecutors say was driving Kohberger when he left his apartment in Washington state, 9 1/2 miles from where the airport was. murders occurred in Moscow, Idaho.

Thursday's testimony was part of an ongoing attempt by the defense to ask the judge to force prosecutors to provide certain evidence during the discovery phase. DNA experts are expected to be summoned at a later closed-door hearing. Prosecutors have previously argued that they were not deliberately withholding information.

The slow pace of preliminary hearings and discussions weighing on such a high-profile case has only delayed the trial and pushed the trial date to the spring or summer of 2025 — frustrating victims' families who say their ability to heal was hindered.

Three of the victims: Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, lived in an apartment building near the University of Idaho, where they were students. Kernodle's boyfriend, Ethan Chapin, 20, had been staying at our house and was also killed early in the morning of November 13, 2022.

In an affidavit following Kohberger's arrest weeks after the killings, prosecutors said he was linked to the scene through male DNA found on a knife sheath left in the victims' apartment building. Investigators also said his cellphone use and video surveillance linked him to the crime.

Kohberger's alibi maintains that he made nighttime trips and that these only increased over the course of the school year.