Murder suspect Bryan Kohberger, accused of ambushing four sleeping University of Idaho students with a “fixed blade” knife in November, was assigned an interim defense attorney before his return to Latah County to face a judge.
Kohberger was expected to waive his extradition Tuesday from Pennsylvania, where police and the FBI arrested him on murder charges at his parents’ home in the Poconos.
Kohberger’s Keystone State attorney, Jason LaBar, has said his client cannot afford a private attorney and will receive a public defender when he returns to Idaho.
A source close to the case identified the interim attorney as Anne Taylor.
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Investigators visit the King Road crime scene on January 3, 2023. The home was the scene of a quadruple homicide in November of last year, all of the victims were University of Idaho students.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
That matches the name of the Kootenai County Public Defender, whose office is about 80 miles away in Couer d’Alene, Idaho.
Several attempts to make contact were unsuccessful early Tuesday morning, and calls were not immediately returned by both the lawyer and the assistant. A woman in her office said she was not authorized to comment.
Multiple attempts to contact the Kootenai Public Defender’s office went unanswered.
(Michael Ruiz/Fox News Digital)
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However, a woman resembling Taylor was seen with a group of investigators at the King Road crime scene on Tuesday. They refused to identify themselves.
A police source said they had been sent by a defense attorney, but said he did not know the specific law office or where it was located.
Anne Taylor, left, joins investigators who visited the King Road crime scene on January 3, 2023. The house was the scene of a quadruple homicide in November last year, and the victims were all students from the University of Idaho. Taylor will defend Bryan Kohberger, charged with the murder.
(Derek Shook for Fox News Digital)
By Tuesday night, Judge Megan Marshall had issued a gag order, preventing prosecutors, police and the defense from discussing the case.
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Kohberger was expected to make his first appearance in Idaho sometime after his extradition hearing in Monroe County, Pennsylvania.
Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21, along with the two other roommates of the women in Kaylee Goncalves’ latest Instagram post, shared the day before the murders.
(@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)
As Fox News Digital previously reported, Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt is also a prominent local defense attorney, presumably having a conflict of interest after working on the murder case.
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She did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
