Murder In Moscow: Anne Taylor And Her Representation Of Madison Mogen's Father Prior To The Murders

Anne Taylor, the public defender appointed to represent Bryan Kohberger, had previously represented both the father and stepmother of victim Madison Mogen in unrelated criminal cases. Court records showed that Taylor had served as counsel for Madison’s father, Benjamin Mogen, in a 2020 case involving two misdemeanor drug charges. Mogen ultimately pleaded guilty to one charge as part of an agreement with prosecutors and was sentenced to 90 days in jail. Taylor had also been part of the defense team for Madison’s stepmother, Korie Hatrock, after Hatrock was charged with one misdemeanor and two felony drug offenses. Hatrock later pleaded guilty to one felony count, and the case had been closed by the time Kohberger was arrested.


The revelation added to early concerns about potential conflicts surrounding Taylor’s appointment because she had also been actively representing Cara Northington, the mother of victim Xana Kernodle, when she first appeared in court with Kohberger. Taylor withdrew from Northington’s case and reassigned it to another attorney shortly after taking on Kohberger’s defense. The prior representation of Madison Mogen’s father and stepmother did not automatically establish a legal conflict, particularly because those cases had been closed, but it underscored how interconnected the local public-defender system was with people tied to the victims. At the time, Taylor was one of the relatively few Idaho public defenders qualified to handle a capital case, which helped explain why she was appointed despite those prior professional relationships.

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