'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,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'%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
Bryan Kohberger is currently under trial for allegedly stabbing four University of Idaho students to death in Moscow, Idaho, on November 13, 2022. He is facing four counts of murder and one charge of felony burglary. On Wednesday, May 10, 2023, reporters announced that Kohberger has hired Elisa Massoth as his new attorney.
As reported by Newsweek Post, Elisa Massoth is a notable defense attorney in Idaho, with the qualifications to represent suspects facing the death penalty. She will join public defender Anne Taylor in providing the primary legal counsel for Kohberger.
The suspect, a 28-year-old criminology PhD, has denied the charges against him.
Elisa Massoth is a former President of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
According to her website, Elisa Massoth is a lawyer with a reputation for defending clients charged with federal crimes and state felonies. A graduate of the University of Idaho, the same University which Kohberger's alleged victims were from, she earned her juris doctorate in 1997.
Elisa Massoth began her career as a clerk for Idaho District Judges including Joel Horton and Michael McLaughlin, before practicing business and real estate-related law at the firm Moffatt, Thomas, Barrett, Rock & Fields. In the city of Boise, she gained recognition as a prosecutor and was eventually appointed Senior Staff Attorney.
After becoming a distinguished figure within the world of Idaho law, Massoth was appointed to several high-profile positions. She is a Criminal Justice Panel Representative, a member of the IACDL legislative committee, as well as the former President of the Idaho Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers.
She has also founded the firms, Ketlinksi, Massoth, Rebholtz, and Soper, PLLC and Massoth and Burrows.
As reported by the National Registry of Exonerations, Massoth is known for one case in which she overturned the conviction of a man suspected of kidnapping and attempted murder. She convinced the court that a witness had misidentified the accused. The case was shown on the television show, America's Most Wanted.
All there is to know about Ann Taylor
The other attorney serving as Kohberger's prime legal counsel is Ann Taylor, who was appointed as the suspect's lawyer soon after he was extradited to Idaho from Pennsylvania.
According to the New York Post, Taylor had previously served as a lawyer for Cara Northington, the mother of Idaho massacre victim Xana Kernodle. On January 5, after she accepted the Kohberger case, Taylor withdrew from Northington's unrelated drug case.
Northington responded:
“I am heartbroken because I trusted her. Taylor pretended that she was wanting to help me … And to find out that she’s representing him, I can’t even convey how betrayed I feel."
The Idaho massacre case is currently ongoing.
