Claims that accused University of Idaho killer Bryan Kohberger could be executed by firing squad if convicted need context

UPDATE: On March 20, the Idaho legislature passed House Bill 186, which now goes to Gov. Brad Little’s desk. The bill passed with enough votes to override a potential veto by the governor.

Some recent headlines suggest that if convicted, Kohberger could be executed by firing squad, which is a method that has become virtually extinct as lethal injection has become the most common form of carrying out the death penalty.

But is firing squad even still legally an option for executions in Idaho?

THE QUESTION

Could Bryan Kohberger be executed by firing squad if convicted of murder?

THE SOURCES

THE ANSWER

Lethal injection is currently the only legal form of execution in Idaho. However, a bill currently being considered in the Idaho state legislature would allow a firing squad in the event the state cannot obtain the drugs needed for injection. 

Prosecutors have also not yet announced whether they intend to pursue the death penalty in Kohberger’s case.

WHAT WE FOUND

Bryan Kohberger has been charged with four counts of first-degree murder for the deaths of University of Idaho students Kaylee Goncalves, Ethan Chapin, Madison Mogen and Xana Kernodle.

His trial won’t begin for several more months, with the next hearing date set for June 26. 

Prosecutors have yet to announce whether they’ll seek the death penalty in his case. 

If they do, and Kohberger is eventually convicted and receives a death sentence, current Idaho law says that he would be executed by lethal injection.

However, the state of Idaho has recently had difficulty obtaining the drugs necessary for lethal injection, causing a planned execution to be canceled. As a result, one lawmaker proposed a bill in the state house to expand the legal options for execution.

House Bill 186, sponsored by Rep. Bruce Skaug (R-Nampa), would amend Idaho law to allow the state to execute death row convicts by firing squad if lethal injection is not an available option. The director of the Idaho Department of Corrections would decide the specific procedures used in such an execution, as they currently do for lethal injections.

The bill as currently written would, if passed, take effect on July 1, 2023, and “apply to all executions carried out on and after the effective date of this enactment, irrespective of the date [the] sentence was imposed.”

There are currently eight inmates on Idaho’s death row, with sentences received as early as 1983. 

The bill has made it out of committee, but still needs approval from the full House, the Senate, and the governor.

So it is possible Kohberger could face execution by firing squad. However, it would first require conviction, a death sentence, the passage of a new state law, and for the state to be unable to obtain the drugs necessary for lethal injection at the time of execution, which could be years away.

Firing squad executions are currently only legal in four states, and only three people have been executed by firing squad since 1976, according to data compiled by the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. All three executions took place in Utah.

Since 1976, the year the U.S. Supreme Court affirmed the constitutionality of the death penalty, Idaho has executed just three people, most recently in 2012, all by lethal injection.