BOISE, Idaho (NewsNation) — A judge ruled Wednesday that Bryan Kohberger’s family members will be allowed to attend his three-month murder trial despite being potential witnesses, citing the defendant’s constitutional rights.
Kohberger, who has been held in maximum security isolation for approximately two and a half years, will now have family support in the courtroom throughout the trial. The decision comes after prosecutors expressed concerns about the presence of Kohberger’s parents and sisters, who are expected to testify during proceedings.
Authorities have not specified what prosecutors believe the family members might testify about, but speculation includes questions about a knife allegedly purchased through a family Amazon account.
The ruling creates potential tension in the courtroom layout, which typically separates victims’ supporters and those supporting the defendant. Victims’ family members are also expected to attend the proceedings.
Former professor of Bryan Kohberger called his family
Howard Blum wrote in an article on the online newsletter Air Mail that Kohberger committed the crimes to impress Katherine Ramsland, his former forensic psychology professor. According to his article, prosecutors will argue that “the pupil was ready to become the teacher… He’d kill and get away with it. He’d prove how smart he was. He would show how much he’d learned.”
However, in a statement obtained by NewsNation, Ramsland denied claims in the article, stating she had “no email correspondence with Bryan Kohberger” while he was at Washington State University and has not been in contact with him since he was arrested.
This photo released by the State of Idaho, which prosecutors claim to have been taken from Bryan Kohberger’s phone, shows Kohberger, accused of slaying 4 University of Idaho students, gesturing in a selfie on Nov. 13, 2022, hours after the homicides occurred. (State of Idaho via AP) 
FILE – Bryan Kohberger, accused of fatally stabbing four University of Idaho students, is escorted into court for a hearing in Latah County District Court, Sept. 13, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, File) 
Bryan Kohberger enters the courtroom for a hearing at the Latah County Courthouse on June 27, 2023 in Moscow, Idaho. (Photo by August Frank-Pool/Getty Images) 
Bryan Kohberger, left, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool) 
Bryan Kohberger, facing first-degree murder charges in the deaths of four University of Idaho students last fall, is seen at the Monroe County Courthouse in Pennsylvania on Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023. 
MOSCOW, IDAHO – JANUARY 05: Bryan Kohberger looks toward his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, right, during a hearing in Latah County District Court on January 5, 2023, in Moscow, Idaho. Kohberger has been arrested for the murders of four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (Photo by Ted S. Warren – Pool/Getty Images) 
In this cropped screen grab from a bodycam video provided by the Hancock County Sheriff’s Office, Bryan Kohberger, left, and his father are seen talking to a sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022, in Hancock County, Ind. Bryan Kohberger, accused in the November slayings of four University of Idaho students has left a Pennsylvania jail in the custody of state police, officials said Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, which means he could be headed to Idaho to face first-degree murder charges.(Hancock County Sheriff’s Office via AP)
“I called his parents as a gesture of kindness, but I do not advise them about the case,” Ramsland said. “I did not call them hours after the arrest, as Blum claims.” Ramsland also denied discussing a book with Kohberger’s sister and brokering anything regarding legal representation.
In response to Ramsland’s denials, Blum acknowledged the error regarding email correspondence but defended his overall theory as a “hypothesis.”
Prosecutors can do own mental health evaluation of Bryan Kohberger
Kohberger, 30, is charged in the deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Madison Mogen, Xana Kernodle and Ethan Chapin at an off-campus house in Moscow, Idaho, in November 2022.
In a separate closed-door hearing, the judge granted prosecutors’ requests to conduct their own mental health evaluation of Kohberger. The defense has previously had experts assess his mental health and conditions.
Kohberger’s trial in the quadruple homicide case is scheduled to last approximately three months.