Idaho Murderer

Bryan+Kohberger+arriving+at+court.

Courtesy Fox News Digital

Bryan Kohberger arriving at court.

On Dec. 30, Bryan Kohberger was arrested for one count of burglary, and four counts of first-degree murder of Kaylee Goncalves, 21; Madison Mogen, 21; Xana Kernodle, 20; and Ethan Chapin, 20. These victims were found stabbed to death in their apartment in Moscow, Idaho, in November. 

 

For the four victims, the hours leading up to the attack had been a typical Saturday night of partying, according to witnesses and friends. While Mogen and Goncalves had visited a bar and a food truck on their way home to their King Road home, Chapin and Kernodle had been to a fraternity party. By 2 a.m., all four were home by 4 a.m. Most of them were sleeping. 

 

According to Moscow police, “D.M.”, identified in the document, a roommate, was awakened at around 4 a.m. by sounds coming from upstairs, including what she believed to be her roommate shouting, “there’s someone here.” 

 

“(according to the affidavit) She opened her door again and this time saw a figure clad in black clothing and a mask’ walking toward her,” NPR says.

 

She “stood in a ‘frozen shock phase,'” according to authorities, the roommate locked herself in her room after the guy passed by and headed for the house’s back sliding door.

 

The discovery that a roommate of the victims had been awakened during the night and had seen a strange masked man leave the home, as well as a DNA sample from a leather knife sheath recovered in one of the victims’ beds that looks to be a strong match for Kohberger.

 

The Moscow Police Department was initially drawn to a white Hyundai Elantra that had been seen on security video that morning driving close to the apartment. Instructing officers to look for more, police created lists of white Hyundai Elantras from 2011 to 2016 that were registered at nearby campuses. 

 

Days later, police at Washington State University, where Kohberger was completing a Ph.D. in criminal justice, spotted such a vehicle and learned that Kohberger was the owner, according to the affidavit.

 

The affidavit states that when investigators looked up his driver’s license information, they discovered that it matched the roommate’s description of the man in black: especially his height, weight and bushy eyebrows.

 

Phone records showed Kohberger’s phone had been in the vicinity of the victim’s residence at least twelve times since June were among the additional pieces of evidence included in the affidavit. Records also indicate that the phone was around the crime scene between 9:12 a.m. and 9:21 a.m., according to CNN.

 

A law enforcement source informed CNN that Kohberger was also watched for four days before his arrest. He reportedly “cleaned his car, inside and outside, not missing an inch,” at that period and was observed placing trash bags in neighbors’ trash cans.

 

Bryan Kohberger will now face a preliminary hearing in June.