Idaho student murders: How police identified and tracked down suspect in monthslong search
Cami Mondeaux
Video Embed
Law enforcement officials released a trove of documents on Thursday detailing police’s investigation into the murders of four University of Idaho students that occurred in their off-campus home in mid-November.
The documents were released just minutes before Bryan Kohberger, 28, appeared in a court hearing in Idaho on Thursday after being extradited to the state one day earlier. Kohberger was arrested on Dec. 30 at his parents’ home in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, in connection to the murders and faces charges of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary.
IDAHO MURDERS UPDATE: SUSPECTS BRYAN KOHBERGER CONNECTED TO CRIME BY DNA FOUND AT SCENE
Kohberger is accused of fatally stabbing the four university students sometime between 4 a.m. and 4:25 a.m. on Nov. 13, according to the probable cause affidavit used in Kohberger’s arrest. Each of the four victims — identified as Ethan Chapin, 20, Xana Kernodle, 20, Madison Mogen, 21, and Kaylee Goncalves, 21 — were killed in their beds due to stab wounds in the chest and upper body with a large knife. Two other roommates that were in the home at the time of the attack were left unharmed.
The case documents reveal previously unreported details about the police’s investigation into the killings, including how officials identified the 28-year-old as a suspect and tracked him down more than 2,500 miles away.
Here’s a timeline of how the investigation unfolded:
Nov. 12
On the evening of Nov. 12, Chapin and Kernodle were seen by one of their surviving roommates at the Sigma Chi house located on the university campus from about 9 p.m. to 1:45 a.m. The pair returned to the victims’ off-campus home around 1:45 a.m., according to court documents.
Meanwhile, Goncalves and Mogen were seen at a local bar between 10 p.m. and 1:30 a.m. before visiting a local food vendor called the Grub Truck. The two were then given a ride home at approximately 1:56 a.m., according to police.
Nov. 13 between 2 a.m. and 5 a.m.
Each of the four roommates was home by 2 a.m. on Nov. 13 and were either asleep or in their respective bedrooms by 4 a.m., according to the two surviving roommates. One of the roommates, who was only identified as D.M. in court documents, recalled waking up around 4 a.m. because she heard noise coming from Goncalves’s room that sounded like she was playing with her dog.
A few minutes later, D.M. reported hearing Goncalves saying something to the effect of “there’s someone here,” according to court documents. D.M. then looked outside her bedroom door but said she did not hear anything out of the ordinary.
However, when D.M. went to open her bedroom door a second time, she recalled hearing what sounded like crying coming from Kernodle’s room and a male voice telling her, “It’s OK, I’m going to help you.”
When D.M. went to open her door for the third time, she recalled seeing a figure in black clothing and a mask walking past her to exit out the back door. D.M. said she was in a “frozen shock phase” and then locked her door, according to court documents. The roommate said she did not recognize the suspect.
Nov. 13 after 12 p.m.
Police initially responded to the scene after two of the surviving roommates called police just before noon. Moscow police then issued a statement saying four people were killed inside the home, and school officials canceled classes the following day.
Investigators with the Moscow Police Department returned to the home around 4 p.m. to process the crime scene, according to the arrest affidavit. During that sweep, officials recovered a knife sheath that was left by the side of one of the victims, according to court documents. Investigators were able to locate “a single source of male DNA” that was left on the button snap of the knife sheath that officials later used to identify Kohberger as a suspect.
As investigators continued their search, they found a latent shoe print located outside the door of D.M.’s bedroom, which is located on the second floor.
Nov. 14 – Nov. 25
Investigators obtained surveillance video footage from around the Idaho residence, allowing officials to identify a white sedan that was seen in the neighborhood multiple times between 3:29 a.m. and 4:20 a.m. on the night of the killings, according to the arrest affidavit. The car was seen passing the victims’ home at least three times before stopping in front of the home around 4:04 a.m. It is then seen departing the residence around 4:20 a.m. “at a high rate of speed.”
Moscow police provided the video footage to the FBI for further examination, allowing investigators to identify the year, make, and model of the vehicle as a 2011-2013 white Hyundai Elantra. The MPD then informed local police on Nov. 25 to be on the lookout for the vehicle and report any sightings.
Nov. 29 – Dec. 14
A few days later on Nov. 29, a Washington State University police officer queried white Elantras that were registered to the school. Kohberger is a Ph.D. student studying criminal justice at the Washington State University campus in Pullman, which is roughly 15 minutes away from the University of Idaho.
That inquiry located a 2015 white Elantra with a Pennsylvania license place that was registered to Kohberger. That same day, another WSU officer located a 2015 white Hyundai Elantra at a university apartment complex that was also registered to Kohberger, according to police.
Police then reviewed Kohberger’s state driver’s license and photograph, concluding his physical appearance was consistent with the description given by D.M. on the night of the murders.
Upon further investigation, officials discovered Kohberger was previously pulled over by Moscow Police on Aug. 21, 2022. During that traffic stop, Kohberger provided his phone number to officials.
Dec. 15 – Dec. 22
Kohberger was pulled over twice within a nine-minute time frame while driving on I-70 in Indiana on Dec. 15, according to Indiana State Police. Kohberger was traveling with his father at the time, and he wasn’t issued a ticket for either traffic stop.
Kohberger was driving a white Hyundai Elantra during the cross-country drive, which Idaho investigators had connected to the crime. However, at the time of the traffic stops, law enforcement did not yet have information about a possible suspect vehicle or license plate, according to Indiana police.
Meanwhile, in Idaho, law enforcement used Kohberger’s license plate to run queries in a number of states, eventually discovering that the 28-year-old was seen driving in Albrightsville, Pennsylvania, on Dec. 16.
After connecting Kohberger to the vehicle of interest, police discovered he is a Ph.D. student studying criminology at WSU and previously earned undergraduate degrees in psychology and cloud-based forensics. As investigators dug further into Kohberger’s history, they found an internet survey he posted on Reddit asking respondents to provide information so he could “understand how emotions and psychological traits influence decision making when committing a crime.”
Investigators then obtained search warrants to gain access to cellphone data showing devices that were in close proximity to the victims’ house on the night of the murders between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m., according to court filings. However, Kohberger’s phone was not recorded as being in the area on that night.
However, police obtained a second search warrant for historical phone records between Nov. 12 at midnight and Nov. 14 at 2 a.m. for the phone number that is registered to Kohberger’s name and Pennsylvania address.
Through those records, investigators were able to determine that Kohberger’s phone was located at his Washington home around 2:42 a.m. on the night of the murders, before leaving around 2:47 a.m., according to court records. The movement and location of the phone were consistent with the travel of the white Elantra, police said.
The phone was then unable to be tracked by the cellular network around 2:47 a.m. and remained disabled until about 4:48 p.m. The phone then returns to Kohberger’s residence around 5:27 a.m., which is consistent with the estimated locations and travel of the white Elantra.
Dec. 23 – Dec. 26
On Dec. 23, police were granted a search warrant to access historical location data connected to Kohberger’s phone number.
The cellphone tracking records indicate the 28-year-old was near the residence at least 12 times between June 2022 and the day of the murder, according to court documents. In all but one of those instances, Kohberger was located at the house in either the late evening or early morning.
Dec. 27 – Dec. 29
Nearly a week later on Dec. 27, Pennsylvania police recovered trash from Kohberger’s family residence in Albrightsville and sent the evidence to the Idaho State Lab for testing, according to court documents. It was through that testing that investigators were able to match a DNA profile from the trash to the knife sheath that was obtained from the crime scene.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
Dec. 30 – Jan. 5
Police arrested Kohberger on Dec. 30 at his parents’ home on charges of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of felony burglary. He later appeared in an initial court appearance in Pennsylvania on Tuesday when he waived extradition. He was then transported to Idaho on Wednesday.
Kohberger then appeared in Idaho court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing when the judge ruled he would be held without bail. Kohberger is expected to appear in court next week for judges to provide an update on the case status.