Idaho four murders: Prosecutors seek death penalty for suspect Kohberger – National & International News – MON 26Jun2023

Idaho four murders: Prosecutors seek death penalty for stabbing suspect Kohberger.

A short-lived coup by a former ally shakes Putin’s strongman image.

NATIONAL NEWS

Idaho four murders: Prosecutors seek death penalty for stabbing suspect Kohberger

Prosecutors in Latah County, ID, announced today that they will be seeking the death penalty for Bryan Kohberger, who stands accused of stabbing four college students to death in Moscow, ID, last November. Kohberger, a 28-year-old criminology student, faces four counts of first-degree murder and one count of burglary in the deaths of Ethan Chapin, 20; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21. All four were killed in an off-campus home near the University of Idaho on Nov. 13, 2022.

Police arrested Kohberger on Dec. 30 after a complex investigation which included cell phone data, DNA and other evidence. There was no known motive for the killings and it’s unclear whether Kohberger had any connection to the victims or anyone else living in the house. Just today, Jay Weston Logsdon, one of Kohberger’s public defenders, claimed that there was “no connection” between Kohberger and the victims.

Logsdon also criticized investigators’ use of genetic genealogy to tie Kohberger to the murder scene. Genetic genealogy has been used in recent years to close several high profile violent crimes including cold case murders from decades ago. The most famous instance of this was the case of convicted serial killer Joseph James Deangelo, also known as the Golden State Killer.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

INTERNATIONAL NEWS

A short-lived coup by a former ally shakes Putin’s strongman image

On Saturday, Yevgeny Prigozhin, chief of the Russian mercenary firm Wagner Group, spearheaded a brief but significant uprising on Russian soil. Not only would such a thing have been unthinkable two years ago, the aftermath has left Kremlin watchers all over the world scratching their heads.

For months, Prigozhin publicly and vehemently criticized Russia’s military leadership and their prosecution of the war in Ukraine. On a few occasions, Prigozhin threatened to withdraw his private army from key positions in Ukraine which they’ve held for months, allegedly with little help from Russia’s military. Prigozhin even went so far to say that Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu had the blood of thousands of Wagner troops on his hands.

Things came to a head on Friday when Prigozhin essentially condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as a farce based on deception. He accused Shoigu and others of misleading Putin into the war. He then announced that his troops would carry out a “march for justice” to Moscow with the goal of deposing Shoigu.

On Saturday, this massive military convoy got underway. There apparently were some skirmishes with Russian military units, with reports indicated 13 Russian pilots had been killed.

Almost as soon as it began, Putin intervened. Just like that, it was over. The Wagner troops stood down, and Prigozhin agreed to go into exile in Belarus, thus avoiding any charges of treason.

What was it all about?

After remaining silent all weekend after the uprising, Putin finally addressed the Russian people today. Never naming Prigozhin, Putin declared the “organizers of the rebellion” had “betrayed their country, their people”. 

Despite this grave pronouncement, Prigozhin isn’t facing much in the way of punishment. In fact, little is going to change for him, other than his address. He’ll retain control of Wagner and its lucrative contracts with the Kremlin, as well as some African nations. This “let bygones be bygones” attitude is quite uncharacteristic of Putin, whose enemies have a habit of dying mysteriously or ending up in prison.

Prigozhin has long been a close Putin ally and still professes to support him, despite his condemnation of Putin’s generals. Even as Prigozhin became more outspoken over the last several months, it seemed Putin made no effort to silence him. Some theorized that Putin was happy for Prigozhin to attack his generals rather than himself. An optimistic interpretation might have been that Putin was looking to build himself a face-saving off-ramp out of this disastrous war.

Whatever the truth is, Saturday’s events were unquestionably bad for Putin. The fact it happened at all was a already a black eye for Putin. But failing to punish or even humble Prigozhin had made Putin look weak, which may be even worse.

Click here for the full story (opens in new tab).

Please share any thoughts, comments or questions in the Comments section below!