There has been an intriguing development in the murder case of four University of Idaho students. The accused suspect, Bryan Kohberger, has been assigned a public defender, Anne Taylor, who previously represented two of his alleged victims’ parents.
This common bond is partially because Latah County, Idaho, where the crimes took place, has only four public defenders. Two of these recused themselves. Taylor is the chief public defender of Kootenai County, which is about an hour and a half north of Latah. It is a common practice for an underfunded county to bring in an outside public defender.
Taylor previously represented victim Madison Mogen’s father and stepmother. In September of 2020, Benjamin Mogen was accused of two misdemeanor drug charges. He pleaded guilty to one of them and served 90 days in jail.
In June of 2022, Korie Hatrock, Mogen’s stepmother, was charged with one misdemeanor and two felony drug counts. Like her husband, she made a deal with prosecutors. She pleaded guilty to one of the counts. Both her and her husband's cases are closed, so there is no conflict of interest.
More recently, Taylor was representing Cara Northington, mom of victim Xana Kernodle. Her case was still ongoing, so Taylor had to file a substitution of counsel and assign another lawyer from her office to this case. Northington was arrested on drug charges on November 19, 2023, just six days after her daughter was murdered.
In an interview with NewsNation, Northington opened up about the change in counsel. “I am heartbroken because I trusted her. I can’t even convey how betrayed I feel,” she said.
To learn more about the woman representing Kohberger, watch this video.
