Kohberger defense team says it is appalled by former experts public comments about Idaho murders case

A public rift has emerged between Bryan Kohberger’s defense lawyers and a hired expert witness after Kohberger’s guilty plea in the murders of four University of Idaho students.In their first public statement made outside the courtroom since Kohberger’s arrest in December 2022, Kohberger’s lawyers have accused a former defense expert, criminologist Brent Turvey, of violating a confidentiality agreement by speaking about the case.“Mr.Turvey has not been released from his confidentiality agreement, and is now speaking about topics that are still confidential, many of which are outside of his areas of expertise,” a statement signed by Kohberger attorneys Anne Taylor, Elisa Massoth and Bicka Barlow said.Turvey is a forensic scientist with a Ph.D.

in criminology.In a fiery statement released Tuesday evening, Kohberger’s lawyers wrote that they are “appalled” by his recent comments.“It is the opinion of the defense team that Mr.

Turvey’s conduct falls outside of the ethical and legal norms that are applied to experts in criminal cases, and his reliability should be seen through the lens of this conduct,” they wrote.Turvey has spoken with a number of news outlets in recent days, including Fox News Digital, after breaking his silence in a newly released book about the case by former FBI agent Christopher Whitcomb, “Broken Plea,” which revealed a defense assertion that there were serious problems with the chief piece of physical evidence in the case.In those interviews, Turvey discussed evidence he reviewed for the defense and internal disagreements over testing and strategy, prompting the rare statement from Taylor, Massoth and Barlow.However, he denied that he divulged any confidential information and alleged that Taylor’s office was under investigation over a leak of confidential video before Kohberger’s guilty plea in violation of a restrictive gag order.“Her press release comes as a bit of a surprise given that nothing confid...