Idaho beefs up firing squad as Bryan Kohbeger trial nears

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Dad of Idaho college murder victim demands justice: ‘They’ve put us through hell’

Kaylee Goncalves’ father, Steve Goncalves, joined ‘Fox & Friends’ to discuss his reaction to suspect Bryan Kohberger’s legal counsel pushing to throw out evidence ahead of the trial and his take on a possible plea deal.

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Idaho lawmakers are moving to bolster their newly restored firing squad as the state’s primary means of execution with eight current death row inmates and the capital murder trial of student murders suspect Bryan Kohberger approaching.

“I, along with many others, believe the firing squad is more certain, has less appellate issues, and is more humane than other forms of execution,” Idaho state Rep. Bruce Skaug, who introduced the legislation, told Fox News Digital. “We had a botched lethal injection attempt in Idaho last year.”

In March 2023, the state revived the firing squad as a backup option for when lethal injection, a troubled and increasingly controversial method of execution, is not available.

IDAHO SERIAL KILELR SURIVES LETHAL INJECTION ATTEMPT, PROMPTING RENEWED PUSH FOR FIRING SQUAD

A chair sits in the execution chamber at the Utah State Prison on June 18, 2010, after Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad in Draper, Utah. Idaho lawmakers passed a bill on March 20, 2023, that would authorize the use of firing squads if the state is unable to obtain drugs required for its lethal injection program.They are now looking at making it the state’s primary means of execution. (Trent Nelson/The Salt Lake Tribune via AP, Pool, File)

Then last year, condemned serial killer Thomas Eugene Creech survived his lethal injection, prompting renewed interest in the firing squad.

The new move would make the firing squad the state’s primary means of capital punishment – without any additional cost to taxpayers, since funding for the execution chamber was included in the previous bill.

Kohberger’s defense, meanwhile has sought to have the death penalty taken off the table and is challenging warrants and DNA evidence used in his arrest.

Two days of hearings on defense motions in the quadruple murder case against University of Idaho student stabbings suspect ended without any official decisions but revealed new details ahead of his highly anticipated trial later this year. The judge is expected to deliver his decisions within a couple of weeks.

IDAHO’S MOVE TO RESURRECT FIRING SQUAD ‘MAKES SENSE’ AS ‘QUICKEST, SUREST’ DEATH PENALTY OPTION, EXPERT SAYS

Bryan Kohberger, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November, looks at his attorney, public defender Anne Taylor, during a hearing in Latah County District Court in Moscow, Idaho, on Jan. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)

Fordham Law School professor Deborah Denno, a leading expert on the death penalty in the U.S., previously told Fox News Digital that the firing squad is accepted as the most efficient and humane means of execution.

“We’ve had three modern firing squad executions, and they have gone off as intended, and the inmate has died quickly and with dignity,” she said after Creech’s failed execution. “So, I think that is something to emphasize.”

Lethal injections have been plagued by mishaps, drug shortages and botched attempts. Creech was the fourth person to survive a lathe execution in just the last few years.

IDAHO GOVERNOR SIGNS LAW ALLOWING FIRING SQUAD EXECUTIONS

The execution chamber at the Idaho Maximum Security Institution is shown as Security Institution Warden Randy Blades looks on in Boise, Idaho, on Oct. 20, 2011. (AP Photo/Jessie L. Bonner, File)

Denno has advocated for giving inmates a choice in their means of execution.

“I have a hunch that more inmates would choose firing squad,” she told Fox News Digital, noting that Tennessee inmates have begun choosing electrocution over lethal injection when given the choice.

Only four states have an option for the firing squad, although its use is extremely rare, according to the Death Penalty Information Center, which also describes lethal injections as the “most-botched” execution method.

Matt Mangino, a former Pennsylvania prosecutor who wrote a book on capital punishment, “The Executioner’s Toll, 2010,” said in the current political climate, he believes the new Idaho bill will pass.

IDAHO STUDENT MURDERS SUSPECT BRYAN KOHBERGER COULD FACE DEATH BY FIRING SQUAD UNDER PROPOSED LAW IF CONVICTED

The chair in which John Albert Taylor was strapped during his scheduled execution is shown at Unitas State Prison in Utah on Jan. 24, 1996. Taylor chose to die by a firing squad of five men instead of a lethal injection. (Lee Celano/Reuters)

Lethal injections look modern and even “clinical,” he said, but can be far more gruesome than they appear. One of the drugs in the typical injection cocktail is a paralyltic meant to keep the condemned from writhing – for witness’ comfort not their own. 

Madison Mogen smiles on the shoulders of her best friend, Kaylee Goncalves, as they pose with Ethan Chapin, Xana Kernodle and two other housemates in Goncalves’ final Instagram post, shared the day before the four students were stabbed to death. (@kayleegoncalves/Instagram)

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Idaho currently has eight death row inmates, including Creech, and is gearing up or a high-profile trial over the stabbing murders of four college students. Suspect Bryan Kohberger, a 30-year-old former criminology Ph.D. student, could face the death penalty if convicted.

Kohberger is scheduled for trial later this year in connection with the home invasion murders of Madison Mogen, 21, Kaylee Goncalves, 21, Xana Kernodle, 20, an Ethan Chapin, also 20.

The firing squad bill remains in committee. A hearing and public testimony has not yet been scheduled, Skaug said.