Idaho murders suspect Bryan Kohberger to argue he was framed in college killings: prosecutors

In the state's filing released on Tuesday, prosecutors summarized a defense filing that appears to be sealed.

"Instead of challenging the conclusion that the DNA on the knife sheath belonged to Defendant, the defense's expert disclosures reveal that the defense plans to argue the DNA on the knife sheath does not prove Defendant was ever at the crime scene and the knife sheath itself could have been planted by the real perpetrator," the filing reads.

The FBI checked two other publicly accessible databases that ultimately led them to Kohberger, who was first identified as a person of interest on Dec. 19, 2022, and arrested on Dec. 30, 2022, in connection to the deaths of Mogen, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, and Ethan Chapin, 20.

Kohberger's defense team has sought to undermine the credibility of investigative genetic genealogy research, or IGG, that helped police zero in on him in connection with the quadruple homicide.

The prosecutors' filing also quotes a defense expert disclosure that prosecutors say reveals Kohberger's lawyers intend to call an expert in forensic biology and DNA who will testify about the DNA found on the knife sheath. 

Defense expert Dr. Leah Larkin, a genetic genealogist, testified that based on her review of discovery documents, she believes someone at the FBI violated an internal policy and the terms of service of one or more genealogy databases to come up with the lead that led to Kohberger.

Through further discovery, Barlow said the FBI "admitted to" using MyHeritage and GEDMatch (without the "PRO"), databases law enforcement isn't supposed to search.

The FBI declined to comment and instead pointed to Ada County Judge Steven Hippler's Feb. 17 order, which found investigators had not violated Kohberger's constitutional rights with the IGG searches.

Kohberger's trial is scheduled to begin on Aug. 11, and he could face the death penalty if convicted. 

Fox News Digital reached out to Kohberger's attorney for comment.