BOISE, Idaho — Prosecutors in the case against Bryan Kohberger, the man charged with killing four University of Idaho students, may call more than two dozen expert witnesses in a host of subject areas, including DNA analysis, cellphone geolocation and crime scene reconstruction, to try to prove his guilt at trial.

None of the state’s experts, detailed to the defense last month in a sealed court filing, were previously disclosed to the public. But prosecutors identified a handful of their planned trial witnesses in a newly released legal brief, which published to an Idaho courts website Thursday.

Two FBI agents are among the 25 potential expert witnesses for the prosecution, the filing read. Special Agent Nick Ballance, a member of the FBI’s cellular analysis survey team, will offer his opinion about where investigators allege Kohberger’s cellphone was at different times before and after the quadruple homicide in Moscow. Special Agent Tony Imel, a video identification expert, will testify about how he settled on the suspect’s vehicle as a white Hyundai Elantra. Kohberger owned a 2015 version of the sedan.

In addition, Latah County Coroner Cathy Mabbutt, in the elected office since 2006, also is listed as a possible expert witness. She issued the four victims’ death certificates and oversaw the autopsies performed by the Spokane Medical Examiner’s Office. Mabbutt has more than 40 years of experience as a registered nurse, the prosecution wrote, and also works as a criminal defense attorney in Moscow.

Other still-unnamed experts are expected to speak to the toxicology results for the four students, the filing read. The victims were each out late into the evening with friends before the early-morning knife attack in November 2022 at an off-campus home in Moscow that took all of their lives, according to publicly released videos and the probable cause affidavit for Kohberger’s arrest.

Kohberger is charged with four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary in the fatal stabbings. The victims were: Kaylee Goncalves, 21, of Rathdrum; Madison Mogen, 21, of Coeur d’Alene; Xana Kernodle, 20, of Post Falls; and Ethan Chapin, 20, of Mount Vernon, Washington.

Moscow Police Forensic Detective Lawrence Mowery filed the majority of the search warrants in the investigation and also is listed among the prosecution’s likely witnesses. He is one of up to three members of law enforcement who specialize in obtaining and analyzing digital evidence who may be asked to testify.

An unnamed crime scene expert, who specializes in reconstruction and bloodstain pattern analysis, also will appear during the prosecution’s portion of the trial, they disclosed.

In addition, as many as 11 experts related to the Idaho State Police crime lab, located in Meridian, could be called at trial by prosecutors, the filing read. Each may speak to specific lab reports, said the brief signed by Latah County Senior Deputy Prosecutor Ashley Jennings.

The state’s expert witness list filing is 400 pages, according to a recent defense filing. Most of the contents are curriculum vitaes, or CVs, for the named experts, but, “with a few exceptions,” include limited details about their opinions anticipated at trial, the defense alleged. The prosecution disputes the claims.

Kohberger’s attorneys seek sanctions against the prosecution for not fulfilling the demands of Idaho criminal rules for an expert witness disclosure. They asked that their Jan. 23 deadline to turn over to prosecutors their expert witness list be pushed back.

Rylene Nowlin, who has worked at the ISP lab for more than 20 years — including as a manager the past decade — is the only one of the group of the state’s forensic DNA experts identified by name in the prosecution’s latest filing. She is expected to testify to “secondary transfer,” or the process by which DNA can pass from a person to an object or another person, prosecutors wrote.

Investigators found the leather sheath for a combat-style knife on the bed of one of the victims, next to her body, according to police. The ISP lab later discovered a single source of male DNA on the knife sheath’s button snap, which police and prosecutors have said was later matched directly to Kohberger.

The names and expertise areas of the remaining state witnesses for now remain a mystery to the public. On Wednesday, Ada County District Judge Steven Hippler issued an order sealing the full list, according to a public case summary. Prosecutors and the defense had previously agreed to seal the state’s expert witness list.

Kohberger is next scheduled to appear in court before Hippler on Jan. 23 for a hearing over the defense’s effort to suppress various pieces of evidence against him. Among the arguments his attorneys have made, they allege that police violated their client’s rights against unreasonable searches and seizures protected by the Fourth Amendment, which the prosecution contests.

Kohberger’s capital murder trial in Boise is set to start this upcoming summer. Jury selection is scheduled to begin on July 30. If convicted of murder, Kohberger could be sentenced to death.

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