Former boxing coach says Kohberger never competed despite suspect’s boasts

Many of Bryan Kohberger’s defense witnesses don’t want to go to Idaho and testify at his upcoming murder trial – including his former boxing coach, who told a Pennsylvania judge the suspected killer never competed and just came to work out.

Jesse Harris, a boxing gym owner and contractor who Kohberger claimed to have studied under as a teen, asked a Pennsylvania judge to block his subpoena in the case based on undue hardship and the fact that it’s been almost 15 years since he saw the 30-year-old Kohberger.

Harris said his wife is fighting cancer, and he can’t step away from his business for “20 minutes,” let alone the time it would take to travel to and from Boise.

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Kohberger’s father brought him to Harris’ gym to build up his confidence when he was 15, the pugilist said.

He described the operation as a place for kids to go when they couldn’t make the cut on other sports teams. He said Kohberger never competed – he just worked out.

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Kohberger never even sparred there, he said, although the suspected killer wrote on a job application previously obtained by Fox News Digital that he “boxed every day after school at the Jesse Harris Boxing Gym.”

Judge Arthur Zulick upheld the Idaho subpoena, meaning Harris will have to testify at trial – but he said that could change if his wife’s health deteriorates and leaving her would cause an undue hardship.

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At an hour-long hearing Monday on whether a half-dozen Pennsylvanians should be compelled to travel to Boise for the trial, only one agreed to go on his own. That was Anthony Somma, a former classmate of Kohberger’s.

Other defense witnesses were told to return to court next week. And hours after the hearing, the court revealed that more witnesses have been subpoenaed by the prosecution – Alison Ackerman and Lynn Courtright. Their connections to Kohberger were not immediately clear. 

Kohberger’s defense team has already reserved a block of hotel rooms for his witnesses and is responsible for the costs of air fare and lodgings.

Brandon Andreola also asked the judge to deny his subpoena. It was a losing effort.

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He said he is a new father and provides the sole income for his family. Reports that Kohberger’s two sisters lost their jobs due to their connection to the quadruple murder suspect have him worried that he could lose his livelihood next, he said.

The judge upheld the subpoena. Andreola asked if he could testify remotely, and the judge said that would be up to his counterpart overseeing the trial in Idaho, Judge Steven Hippler.

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Ralph Vecchio III appeared in court in response to a subpoena for “Ralph Vecchio.” He said the intended recipient may have been his father, who owned the family car business back in 2019 when Kohberger’s parents bought a white Hyundai Elantra. The younger Vecchio took over in 2021.

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He said he never met Kohberger. The judge declared the current subpoena invalid but gave Kohberger’s lawyers a chance to amend it. Vecchio is due back in court next week. He said his 88-year-old father is “homebound” and in poor health.

William Searfoss, a jail guard who preserved Kohberger’s records from a brief stay in Pennsylvania lockup before his extradition to Idaho, will likely not need to appear. Kohberger’s attorneys need to subpoena those records themselves and not the correction officer who maintains them. He’s due back in court next week, and Kohberger’s lawyers will subpoena the records directly.

Maggie Sanders was unavailable for Monday’s hearing due to international travel. She is due in court on July 7. Her connection to Kohberger remains unclear.

Ann Parham, an advisor at Kohberger’s former high school, was ordered to testify before Monday’s hearing and will be present at trial.