Murder suspect Corbin Lampert told police during an interview that he did not fire the shot that killed 16-year-old Taryn Hohbein in a Bismarck apartment last year, but the investigation didn't uncover any evidence supporting his version of events, a police detective testified Monday.
Lampert, now 19, is accused of murder and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted felon in connection with Hohbein’s death on June 25, 2023. Monday was the sixth day of his trial at the Burleigh County Courthouse. He could face life in prison without parole if convicted on the murder charge.
Lampert's recorded video interview with police the day after the shooting was shown in court on Monday. Lampert, 18 at the time, admits being inside the apartment on Ohio Street where Hohbein was shot but tells officers that another juvenile whom authorities have identified as FL fired the killing shot.
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“I’m pretty sure it was an accident; he wouldn’t be that stupid to shoot someone in his own house,” Lampert tells police.
FL testified last week that he lived in the apartment, and that the gun -- which authorities said had previously been stolen in Lincoln -- belonged to him. He said he bought it from someone in a park the day before the shooting, and that he "had a bullet in my change jar" and put the bullet in the magazine. Authorities recovered the gun from FL during a traffic stop following the shooting.
Testimony given earlier in the trial by juveniles also at the apartment has implicated Lampert as the person last holding the gun before Hohbein was shot in the head. Several have admitted to drinking throughout that day, beginning in a park and continuing into the evening.
Lampert during the nearly two-hour interview with police describes arriving around 11 p.m. at the apartment, where he said FL showed him the gun. Lampert admits touching the gun, but not in the same room as where Hohbein was killed. He tells investigators he left the gun in a bedroom where it was retrieved by FL, who brought the weapon back where people were gathered.
“They were passing it around,” Lampert tells investigators. He expresses no knowledge about the gun being reloaded.
“I was going to turn the TV on and I heard a bang,” Lampert says. “I looked over at Taryn and she was on the floor. I put my shoes on and left; I couldn’t deal with it.”
Lampert’s admissions to officers came after a lengthy interview process that began with him telling a different story. During the course of the interview detectives tell Lampert they are reviewing social media accounts and data from the cellphones of others present, as well as conducting interviews with those juveniles.
“They’re blaming me for that (expletive), aren’t they?” Lampert asks. “I didn’t. I didn’t.”
Investigators express skepticism based on what they say are falsehoods Lampert had told them previously.
“I didn’t do it, I didn’t do it,” Lampert maintains.
Following the video’s conclusion, Police Detective Ryan Guggenberger testified that the investigation didn’t uncover any information supporting Lampert’s version of events naming FL as Hohbein’s shooter. He said that "it would have been very difficult" for FL to have been the one who fired the shot. Guggenberger also testified that despite "an exhaustive search" Lampert's cellphones have not been found.
Other witnesses
Hohbein's boyfriend on Monday was the latest of several juveniles who were at the gathering to testify that Lampert was the last person seen holding the gun before it was fired.
The boyfriend, a juvenile identified as MW, said he witnessed the gun’s magazine and a single bullet being removed from the gun, and at one point the bullet was on a kitchen counter. He said he did not know when or if the bullet was reinserted into the magazine, but that he did see another juvenile identified as CP reinsert the magazine into the gun. Later he saw Lampert handling the gun immediately prior to Hohbein’s shooting, he said.
MW also testified that immediately after the gun was fired, Lampert was holding the weapon and “giving it a funny look” before dropping the gun on the apartment floor and exiting through a window.
MW also told police during an interview following the shooting that Lampert was “the one who (shot) it."
MW admitted to being among those who were drinking. He and Hohbein arrived at the apartment before Lampert, who MW said immediately started a confrontation with Hohbein after arriving.
Another juvenile, a 17-year old female identified as CS, testified she had known Hohbein since elementary school and described herself as Hohbein’s best friend. CS testified Lampert had previously dated another friend of Hohbein’s and that the relationship had ended badly.
Previous testimony by others present at the apartment has described a scenario in which Hohbein and Lampert went into a bedroom for a period of time to discuss their conflict before returning to the group. It’s then that Lampert began handling the gun and Hohbein was shot, multiple witnesses have testified.
Burleigh County State's Attorney Julie Lawyer said prosecutors have just one witness remaining before they rest their case.