By Erik Ortiz, Jon Schuppe and David K. Li -
NBC News
A series of clues was key to investigators linking a Washington doctoral student to the murders of four students in Idaho.
Some of these clues included
male DNA found on a knife sheath at the crime scene, and testimony from a student who said she came face-to-face
with the defendant the night of the murders, according to court documents released this week .
Thursday.
A probable cause affidavit prepared by police in Moscow, Idaho, details how investigators also used video surveillance in the area to connect the quadruple homicide that occurred in November to the white Hyundai Elantra driven by 28-year-old suspect Bryan Kohberger.
Kohberger was denied bail Thursday at his first court appearance in Idaho, following his arrest last Friday at his family's home in Pennsylvania. The defendant faces four counts of first-degree murder and robbery.
The suspect's arrest occurred about seven weeks after the murders of students: Madison Mogen, 21;
Kaylee Goncalves, 21;
Xana Kernodle, 20;
and Ethan Chapin, 20. The tragedy brought fear and frustration to Moscow's largely rural university community.
[Suspect Pulled Over on Highway and Let Go: New Details on Idaho Students Murdered Case]
Kohberger was a doctoral student at the Department of Criminal Justice and Criminology at nearby Washington State University at the time of his arrest.
It was not immediately known if he had a relationship or connection to any of the victims.
A private security officer, right, walks to his car after speaking with the occupants of another vehicle on the left, Tuesday, Jan. 3, 2023, in front of the Idaho House, where four University of Idaho students were killed in November 2022. Ted S. Warren / AP
The murder weapon, believed to be
a large fixed-blade knife
, has not yet been recovered, Moscow police said.
Newly released court documents also do not suggest
a motive for the attack
, which Moscow police have said from the outset appeared to be intentional, though they did not know whether it was targeting any particular occupants of the home.
Kohberger's Pennsylvania public defender said last week that the suspect's family does not believe he was involved and that he was "eager to be cleared of these charges and hopes to resolve these matters as soon as possible."
the sheath of the knife
Payne said he arrived at the off-campus apartment building on King Road around 4:00 p.m. to help an Idaho State Police forensics team process the crime scene.
As he and another officer moved through the three-story home, Payne said he walked into a second-floor room and saw Kernodle's body on the floor.
The student "she died of injuries that appeared to have been caused by a sharp weapon," he wrote.
Another person, later identified as her boyfriend, Chapin, was also found stabbed to death in the room.
On video: Handcuffed and dressed in red, the suspect in the Idaho murders was presented in court
Jan 4, 202300:18
The agents went up to the third floor and saw a dog, which belonged to Goncalves, in a bedroom.
Payne said they went to another room where they found the bodies of Goncalves and Mogen in the same bed with "visible stab wounds."
Then he saw an object,
a brown leather knife sheath, on the bed next to Mogen
.
“The pod, which was processed later, had
emblazoned on the exterior
are the words 'Ka-Bar' 'USMC' and the United States Marine Corps eagle globe
and anchor insignia,” Payne wrote.
“The Idaho State Laboratory then located a single source of male DNA” on the knife sheath, he added.
The testimony of a survivor
When Moscow police asked for the public's help in the early stages of the investigation, they also reported that two other students who shared a house with the victims were there at the time of the murders, but they escaped unharmed and were not believed to be involved. in crime.
The roommates were identified as Dylan Mortensen and Bethany Funke.
Initial reports from investigators indicated that the two were asleep during the stabbings and that one of their cell phones was used to call 911 just before noon on November 13.
According to the affidavit, Mortensen gave police the most detailed account available from an eyewitness in the case.
They remember four students who died in strange circumstances at their university graduation
Dec 11, 202200:23
She heard Goncalves playing with her dog around 4 a.m., and a short time later,
she heard her housemate say, "There's someone here
," according to court documents.
Then, she said, she heard crying in Kernodle's room and a male voice saying “something to the effect of 'okay, I'll help you,'” according to the affidavit.
Kernodle was alive until at least 4:12 a.m.
when her cell phone showed she was using TikTok, police said.
At 4:17 a.m., a nearby security camera caught “distorted audio of what sounded like voices or a whimper followed by a thud” while “a dog can be heard barking numerous times,” the statement said. sworn.
“DM stated that she opened the door a third time after hearing crying and saw a figure dressed in black and a mask covering the mouth and nose of the person walking towards her,” according to court documents.
[Idaho murder suspect made “creepy” comments at brewery, owner says]
“She described the figure as 5.10 inches or more in height, masculine, not very muscular, but athletically built with bushy eyebrows.
The man walked past DM while he was in a 'frozen shock phase'.
The man walked to the rear sliding glass door.
DM locked himself in her room after seeing the man ”, it is indicated.
It was not clear if the witness said she made eye contact with the man dressed in black.
Based on forensic evidence and interviews, investigators believe
all four victims were killed sometime between 4 a.m. and 4:25
a.m.
All the occupants of the house were in their rooms at 4 a.m., according to the affidavit.
Police identify a white car
Investigators began linking Kohberger to the crime when they reviewed security video of the streets around the crime scene and noticed
a white Hyundai Elantra drive past the home multiple times
just before the murders, then quickly exit the scene.
area shortly after the crimes in the direction of Pullman, Washington, home of Washington State University.
Investigators reviewed security video footage on the university campus and noted that the same car was leaving campus before the attack and returning afterward, according to the affidavit.
They reveal that a sixth person lived in the house where the Idaho students were murdered
Dec 2, 202200:26
On November 25, Moscow police alerted law enforcement agencies in the area to be on the lookout for white Hyundai Elantras.
Four days later, Washington State University campus officials noticed an Elantra registered to Kohberger.
Investigators checked Kohberger's driving record and found that he had been pulled over in Moscow in August.
During that stop, for a traffic violation, Kohberger provided his cell phone number.
That number allowed investigators to examine
where her cell phone had been
at the time of the murders.
Furthermore, “
Kohberger's photograph shows that he has bushy eyebrows
.
Kohberger's physical description is consistent with the description of the male DM she saw inside the King Road Residence on November 13,” according to the affidavit.
The use of the suspect's cell phone is being investigated
Authorities had obtained a search warrant for cellphones that were used near the crime scene at the time of the murders, according to the affidavit.
But Kohberger's phone didn't turn up in that search.
Investigators
suspected that he had turned off his phone before the murders
.
Another search warrant, issued on December 23, gave investigators the location of Kohberger's cell phone for the 24 hours before the murders and for 24 hours after.
That information showed that Kohberger left his Pullman home a couple of hours before the victims were killed and then deactivated or turned off his phone, according to the affidavit.
The phone didn't come back on until after his death, when he traveled from Idaho to Pullman.
[Two roommates of murdered University of Idaho students break silence]
A few hours later, just after 9 a.m. on November 13, Kohberger traveled from Pullman to an area near the crime scene and quickly returned home.
Investigators obtained another search warrant, this time to trace Kohberger's phone further back in time
to see if he had stalked any of the victims
, contacted them or monitored the King Road home.
Those records revealed that Kohberger had been near the King Road home
at least 12 times
between June 2022 and the day of the murders, according to the affidavit.
One of those times was just before he was pulled over for the August 2022 traffic violation.
In this small town no one has been killed in seven years.
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While reviewing his cell phone history, investigators also tracked his car as he drove home for winter vacation.
An automatic license plate reader in western Colorado picked up the Elantra on December 13.
Indiana police stopped the car on December 15.
The next day, surveillance video showed the Elantra at Kohberger's family home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, according to court documents.
Researchers look for DNA in the trash
On December 27, police collected trash from outside Kohberger's home.
The evidence was sent to the Idaho State Laboratory for analysis and a DNA profile was compared to the DNA discovered on the knife's sheath.
According to the affidavit, the DNA recovered from the trash indicates that it belongs to
the father of the person
who left his mark on the knife sheath at the Moscow crime scene.
