The defense attorney for Bryan Kohberger, the suspect in the Idaho student killings, previously represented two of the parents whose children were stabbed to death last fall in their off-campus home.
Anne Taylor had represented Benjamin Mogen and his wife, Korie Hatrock, in separate cases between 2020 and 2022, according to court records obtained by Inside Edition Digital.
Mr. Mogen and Ms. Hatrock were the parents of 21-year-old Madison Mogen, one of the four University of Idaho students who were killed in the predawn hours of Nov. 13.
Mr. Mogen pleaded guilty to misdemeanor drug charges in September 2020 and was sentenced to serve 90 days in prison. Ms. Hatrock also entered a plea deal with prosecutors last year for two felony drug charges as well as a misdemeanor offense.
The case was closed as of Dec. 28, according to Inside Edition Digital.
Ms. Taylor was actually still representing Cara Northington, the mother of 20-year-old slaying victim Xana Kernodle, when she first appeared in court to serve as Mr. Kohberger’s public defender.
Hours later, she filed a substitution of counsel in order for someone else for the public defender’s office to take Ms. Northington’s case.
Kernodle’s mother was arrested Nov. 19 — less than a week after her daughter was killed — on two felony drug charges in Kootenai County, Idaho.
Ms. Taylor had represented Ms. Northington in four separate cases, according to the Idaho Statesman.
“I am heartbroken because I trusted her,” Ms. Northington told NewsNation last week. Ms. Taylor “pretended that she was wanting to help me … And to find out that she’s representing [Kohberger], I can’t even convey how betrayed I feel.”
Bryan Kohberger was arrested at his parents’ home in Pennsylvania on Dec. 30.
He was extradited days later to Idaho, where he was charged with four counts of first-degree murder in the killings of Kernodle, Mogen, 20-year-old Ethan Chapin and 21-year-old Kaylee Goncalves.
He was also charged with one count of felony burglary.
A combination of cellphone records, surveillance footage of his car and DNA found on a knife sheath at the scene led police to Mr. Kohberger, according to a probable cause affidavit released following his Jan. 5 court hearing.
He has not yet entered a plea in the case. Mr. Kohberger‘s next court appearance won’t be until June. He is being held at the Latah County Jail.