BOISE, Idaho (TNS) - Bryan Kohberger, the man accused of murdering four University of Idaho students in November, said he was going for a drive on the night of the killings, according to a new court filing.

Kohberger, a Pleasant Valley graduate, was arrested in Indian Mountain Lake in late December, while visiting his parents’ home while on break from school.

The filing is the first time Kohberger has given any explanation about his whereabouts the night of the fatal stabbings.

Kohberger has been charged with the first-degree murders of University of Idaho seniors Madison Mogen and Kaylee Goncalves, both 21, and junior Xana Kernodle and freshman Ethan Chapin, both 20, at an off-campus home on King Road in Moscow.

“Mr. Kohberger has long had a habit of going for drives alone. Often he would go for drives at night,” the document stated.

The defense said Kohberger, 28, was on one of these habitual drives late Nov. 12 and into the early morning of Nov. 13 - the same date as the killings.

The defense said Kohberger is “not claiming to be at a specific location at a specific time at this time” and noted he does not have “a specific witness to say precisely where Mr. Kohberger was at each moment.”

The document, filed Wednesday night, was part of Kohberger’s objection to the state’s motion to compel him to provide an alibi. The defense called this motion “an attempt to force the defense to open its work product files and let the state peek inside” and said the state was trying to push Kohberger to waive his right to a speedy trial.

“The defense has stated all that can firmly be stated at this time,” the filing said. “This is not trial by ambush from the defense. This is the defense requesting information as quickly as possible yet in some instances face the delay of requesting a court order to obtain information.”

Kohberger previously declined to provide a pretrial alibi in response to the state’s demand. The defendant chose to exercise his right to remain silent on the issue and to possibly testify on his own behalf at trial, according to the filing signed by lead public defender Anne Taylor.

Corroborating evidence showing Kohberger was not at the students’ home that day may come later in the forms of cross-examination of the state’s witnesses and expert witness presentation, according to Wednesday’s defense filing.

At the time of the homicides, Kohberger was a graduate student in the criminal justice and criminology department at Washington State University in Pullman, roughly 9 miles from the border of Idaho.

Kohberger also previously chose to stand silent at his arraignment in May, which led Judge John Judge of Idaho’s 2nd Judicial District in Latah County to enter a plea of not guilty.

Kohberger also faces one count of felony burglary. Prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty if he is convicted.