Idaho college murders: Judge denies attempt to rule out death penalty

A judge on Thursday refused to rule out the death penalty in the trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022.

A judge on Thursday refused to rule out the death penalty in the trial of a man accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students in 2022.

Defense attorneys for Bryan Kohberger had sought to strike capital punishment as an option in his upcoming murder trial, but Judge Steven Hippler denied the request.

Attorneys for Kohberger argued that he was recently found to have autism spectrum disorder and that the death penalty would be "dehumanizing."

"No court has ever found ASD to be a categorically death-disqualifying diagnosis," Hippler wrote in the ruling.

He wrote that prosecutors were correct in their arguments that autism spectrum disorder does not qualify under the law for exemptions for the death penalty under intellectual disabilities, and that there is no national consensus on the issue.