Just a portion of University of Idaho quadruple murder suspect Bryan Kohberger’s defense cost taxpayers more than $270,000 this year.
The family of Brian Laundrie, the Florida man who killed his fiancée Gabby Petito and left her in the Wyoming wilderness, paid $25,000 to an elite law firm before the public even knew she was missing. Laundrie had New York lawyer Steve Bertolino working pro bono and killed himself in a swamp before authorities even obtained a warrant on debit card fraud charges.
Those are just a fraction of what the defense in a major murder case can cost if it goes to trial, said David Gelman, founder of a large defense firm based outside Philadelphia in New Jersey.
O.J. Simpson paid an estimated $6 million for his “dream team” defense during his trial in the early 1990s, which won him acquittals on two murder charges for the deaths of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman. According to The Minneapolis Fed’s inflation calculator, that is almost $12 million today.
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O.J. Simpson, center, listens to the not guilty verdict with his attorneys F. Lee Bailey and Johnnie Cochran Jr., right. (MYUNG J. CHUN/AFP via Getty Images)
“For a murder trial, you’re going to be looking at $100,000 for the trial alone,” Gelman said, giving a ballpark estimate for what he said was the lower end of the spectrum.
It could be three times as high in major cities like Los Angeles and New York or if the trial goes on for a long time. That does not include the cost of retaining a lawyer during pretrial proceedings, expert witnesses, private investigators and other expenses.
Many lawyers charge hundreds of dollars an hour, but the earlier a suspect retains one, the better, Gelman told Fox News Digital.
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Police in Moab, Utah, stopped Brian Laundrie on Aug. 12 after he allegedly slapped Gabby Petito in public. (Moab City Police Department)
“Brian Laundrie, obviously I don’t condone anything he did,” he said. “The only thing I will say, it was very smart to hire an attorney prior to being charged.”
Everyone is entitled to a defense attorney under the U.S. Constitution, he said, and in cases where the client is guilty, the lawyer’s job becomes mitigation.
“Depending on what you’re charged with, the mitigation is going to vary,” he said. “Hiring someone in the beginning is very smart.”
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Bryan Kohberger, center, who is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022, sits with two of his attorneys, Anne Taylor, left, and Jay Logsdon, right, as he appears at a hearing in Latah County District Court, Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2023. (AP Photo/Ted S. Warren, Pool)
He said the $25,000 retainer for Laundrie’s defense may have been on the cheaper side under the circumstances.
In Idaho, where Latah County has contracted the public defender’s office of Kootenai County to lead Kohberger’s defense, the first year in costs will likely surpass $300,000.
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Public records obtained by Fox News Digital show Kootenai County billed Latah County three times between January and August for sums of $45,429.25, $51,393.67 and $79,104.68. Fourth quarter billing records were not provided.
Kootenai County billing in Bryan Kohberger case (Mobile users go here)
Separately, Anne Taylor charged $24,996.72, $27,798.67 and $38,271.92 for her own expenses, and Jay Logsdon was owed $779.33 and $3,209.33.
More than $11,000 went to unnamed defense investigators.
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Attorney Steven Bertolino, right, speaks with attorney Laura Kelly, center, during arguments to dismiss a complaint against him, filed by the parents of Gabby Petito. Bertolino represented Roberta and Christopher Laundrie, the parents of Brian Laundrie, after Petito was reported missing. On the left is Bertolino’s attorney, Charles Meltz. (Mike Lang/USA TODAY NETWORK)
Those records do not mention any costs associated with Kohberger’s other defense attorney, Elisa Massoth, whose office is in Payette. No trial date has been set.
“Trials, they take up so much of your time, not just the trial itself, which could be weeks, potentially months, but also the preparation time,” Gelman said. “And you’re going to be paying experts, your costs at the end just for the trial alone could be up to $200,000.”
Elisa Massoth, left, talks to Anne Taylor during Bryan Kohberger’s hearing Friday, Aug. 18, 2023, at the Latah County Courthouse in Moscow. Kohberger is accused of killing four University of Idaho students in November 2022. (August Frank/Lewiston Tribune/Pool)
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Trial preparation can take months, he said. Once the trial begins, it becomes an around-the-clock job, with lawyers returning from a day in court only to begin preparing for the following morning.
“There’s a lot of work that goes into these things,” he said. “$250,000, $300,000, yea it’s a lot of money, but it also shows the time, the amount of effort, that a great attorney is going to put into it.”
