Bryan Kohberger could face FIRING SQUAD if he's convicted of Idaho murders trends now

Accused murderer Bryan Kohberger may face a firing squad for the quadruple homicide of four college students last year.

Lawyers are gearing up for the possibility of a death penalty trial for the 28-year-old criminal justice major who remains the only suspect in the November 13 slaying of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Madison Mogen, 21, Ethan Chapin, 20 and Xana Kernodle, 20. 

They have laid out in charging documents how Kohberger stalked out their off-campus home in the weeks before the murder and kept multiple photos of one of one of the female students on his phone.

Some of his former friends have even told FBI and state investigators how Kohberger changed both physically and emotionally in his senior year of high school — even apparently getting a tummy tuck.

Now, a Republican state lawmaker has introduced a bill that would once again allow for execution by firing squad in the state. 

Death by firing squad was legal in Idaho from 1982 through 2009, when the Legislature removed it as an option. That left lethal injection as the only legal form of execution in the state.

But acquiring the chemicals used in lethal injection has become increasingly difficult.

Last year, the legislature passed a bill allowing any company or pharmacy that provided the chemicals used in lethal injection with anonymity in hopes that more companies and pharmacies would be willing to contract with the legislature to provide the necessary ingredients.

Still, in November, the Idaho Department of Corrections was forced to cancel the scheduled execution of Gerald Pizzuto Jr when it could not obtain the chemicals necessary to carry out the execution.

Rep. Bruce Skaug, a Republican from Nampa, has since sponsored a bill to bring back firing squad as a legal form of execution in Idaho. 

The bill states that the Idaho Department of Corrections must determine whether execution by lethal injection is an available method no later than five days after a death warrant is issued.

If the method is not available, the IDOC may elect to use a firing squad.

The bill does not specify how many or what type of firearms should be used in the execution, only saying the director of the IDOC would determine the procedures used in the execution.

Skaug said he believed the option is more humane than lethal injection  because sometimes the process could be botched.

And, he pointed out to the Idaho Capital Sun, other states like Utah have brought back the use of a firing squad in recent years due to their inability to get the lethal injection chemicals. 

A public hearing on the bill will now be held in the Idaho House Judiciary, Rules and Administration Committee, which Skaug chairs.

Prosecutors have laid out in court documents how Kohberger turned off his phone on the night of the murders in an alleged attempt to cover his tracks before brutally stabbing the four college students.

He is even alleged to have returned to the scene of the crime at 9am on November 13 — just hours after police believe he committed the quadruple homicide.

The probable cause document then goes on to say that the criminal justice graduate stalked the property at least 12 times, and his DNA was found on a knife sheath close to the bodies of Maddie Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves.

An ensuing investigation of Kohberger's apartment at Washington State University later found several hair strands, including one suspected animal hair, a black glove, a computer tower and one unidentified item with a collection of 'dark red spots.'

Police said they also hauled away a pillow with a 'reddish/brown stain' on it and the top and bottom of a mattress cover with 'multiple stains'.

All the items are now being stored at the Washington State University Police department.